Publication - FOI/EIR release

Correspondence/report on evaluation of Hate Crime Campaign: FOI release

Published: 26 June 2018
Directorate: Communications and Ministerial Support Directorate
Topic: Law and order, Public safety and emergencies, Public sector

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

FOI reference: FOI/18/01357
Date received: 11 May 2018
Date responded: 7 June 2018

Information requested

All correspondence relating to the evaluation of the 'Hate has no home in Scotland campaign', both before and after the duration of the campaign
A copy of the evaluation report

Response

Attached is the relevant correspondence in the electronic format that you requested. Please note certain information has been redacted or exempt under the Freedom of Information guidelines 38(1)(b), 25(1), 33(1)(b) and is summarised below.

I would also like to draw your attention to a publicly available evaluation report which can be found via the following link: /publications/hate-crime-campaign-2017-evaluation/

Reasons for not providing information

Reasons for redactions / exemptions:

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some 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 Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
A summary of the evaluation report is available here. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you all the email attachments where information is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA (commercial interests) applies to some of the emails between Scottish Government and its agencies. This exemption applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of Kantar TNS and Republic of Media. Disclosing this information would be likely to give their competitors an advantage in future similar tendering exercises, which would substantially prejudice TNS' and Republic of Media's ability to submit competitive tenders and so could significantly harm their commercial business.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open and transparent government, and to help account for the expenditure of public money. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies which tender for Scottish Government contracts, to ensure that we are always able to obtain the best value for public money.

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