Timeline of correspondence for FOI/18/02473 including details of input: FOI release

Any correspondence (emails, letters, phone calls, handwritten notes or any other documents) between the lead official on FOI request 18/02473 and/or Scottish Government ministers and/or the SG FOI Unit and/or special advisers regarding the response to that FOI request. Information should include: a detailed timeline (with dates) of when the lead official contacted ministers/special advisers (and vice versa); any notes or comments or suggestions offered by ministers or special advisers to the lead official; any input from the SG FOI Unit; any advice or comments from ministers/spads rejected by the lead official; any advice or comments from ministers/spads accepted by the lead official; any correspondence (as defined previously) on the use of exemptions; any correspondence (as defined previously) on material to be redacted; any information on delays to the FOI response; any information on who received the FOI to clear, when they responded and what they said; and any information on delays to the FOI response.

I enclose some of the information that you requested. I have provided a timeline with dates for FOI request 18/02473 when the lead official contacted Scottish Government Ministers and Special Advisers. I have also provided a table with a response to each part of your request which is included in Annex A of this letter. 

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some the information you have requested because an exemption under section s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The reason why that exemption applies is explained below.

Exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information).

This applies to some of the information requested because it contains personal data of a third party, i.e. Scottish Government official names below Senior Civil Service and their direct contact details. This information has been redacted throughout the document which is being released. Disclosing this information 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.