Communication relating to Sustainable Growth Commission report: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/18/02078
Date received: 3 August 2018 
Date responded: 3 September 2018
 
Information requested

Asked for “copies of all communication from Government Minister's, Cabinet Secretary's etc and their respective offices including Special Advisors relating to the "Sustainable Growth Commission" Report, published in May 2018” and “copies of communication from Feburary 2018 to present, relating to the above report.”

Response

I enclose a copy of the information you requested in Annex I. In some instances, part of the information requested has been withheld or redacted for the following reasons:

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, ie names/contact details of individuals, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

An exemption under section 29(1)(a) of FOISA (formulation or development of government policy) applies to some of the information requested because it relates to the formulation of the Scottish Government’s policy on its Programme for Government.

An exemption under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA (free and frank provision of advice) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to provide free and frank advice to Ministers before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. Disclosing the content of free and frank advice on public affairs will substantially inhibit the provision of such advice in the future.

An exemption under section 30(b)(ii) of FOISA (free and frank exchange of views) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. This exemption recognises the need for Ministers and officials to have a private space within which to discuss and explore options before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view.  Disclosing the content of free and frank discussions on Sustainable Growth Commission Report will substantially inhibit such discussions in the future, particularly because these discussions are still ongoing and decisions have not been taken. 

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FOI-18-02078 - related email correspondence

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12 page PDF

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