Scotland's information watchdog has come under fire after saying it would delay the release of decisions which may be critical of Scottish Government ministers.

A candidate for the Holyrood elections was told the Scottish Information Commissioner's office would not issue certain decisions which may "put forward a critical view of ministers" until after the Scottish Parliament election on May 5.

This is despite rules on "purdah" not applying to the information commissioner, who decides on disputes around freedom of information requests.

James McEnaney, a candidate for the RISE party in the Glasgow region, had submitted a freedom of information request relating to plans for National Standardised Testing in schools.

Upon receiving the response from information commissioner Rosemary Agnew's office, the party said it had "serious questions about this organisation’s impartiality."

Mr McEnaney, Education Spokesman for RISE, said: "We are very concerned at the behaviour of the Scottish information commissioner and her officers.

"On Tuesday I received an email informing me that the information commissioner had 'decided not to issue any decisions which might put forward a critical view of ministers' until after the Holyrood election on 5 May.

"We were then told that the commissioner, acting on advice the Scottish Government has issued to civil servants, had decided to delay our FOI appeal due to 'purdah' rules governing civil service impartiality during an election period.

"And then we were told that, in fact, a decision on our request may be made before the election, depending on how it effects the Commissioner's claim to 'impartiality'."

He continued: "It is clearly not appropriate for the information commissioner to protect Scottish Government ministers from criticism by delaying the release of potentially sensitive or damaging information, regardless of whether an election campaign is ongoing.

"As a matter of democratic urgency, Scottish voters have the right to know why this extraordinary decision has been taken."

A spokesman for the Commissioner told the Sunday Herald newspaper: "Although not bound by purdah, the Commissioner is mindful of the need to both be impartial and to be seen to be impartial at all times, so we are alert to the need for care during the election period to avoid any suggestions of bias in the issuing of decisions involving the ministers.

"We consider the circumstances of each case to help us decide whether issuing it could create an impression of bias.

"In the rare event that issue of a decision during the election period might be viewed as less than impartial, we consider whether to postpone it."