A SCOTTISH government agency was condemned today for unlawfully keeping the extent of Covid-19 care-home deaths a secret. 

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) was found to have breached freedom of information (FoI) legislation by refusing to release the number of confirmed and suspected coronavirus-related deaths in each of Scotland’s care homes.

After a probe carried out as part of a joint project by the Scotsman, the Herald, DC Thomson and STV, the Scottish Information Commissioner ruled that NRS had used arguments that were “speculative in nature” to block the release of statistics.