Publication - FOI/EIR release

Legal agreements with Ferguson Marine Engineering/Clyde Blowers Capital: FOI release

Published: 11 June 2019
Directorate: Economic Development Directorate
Topic: Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/19/01262
Date received: 13 May 2019
Date responded: 11 June 2019

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

Information requested

You asked the Scottish Government to provide; a copy of all legal agreements between Scottish Ministers and any of:
Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited
Ferguson Marine Engineering (Holdings) Limited
Clyde Blowers Capital.

Response

I enclose a response to your request. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections of FOISA apply. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in the Annex to this letter.

Reasons for not providing information - Annex
Exemptions apply, not subject to the public interest test

An exemption under section 25(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because it is otherwise accessible and can be obtained without making a request for it. 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.

Some of the information you have requested has already been released to you in the response for FoI/18/01835 at appeal stage 2 on 3 April 2019 and some of the information, along with other information you have requested, has also been released on the UK Government Companies House website and can be found at:
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/SC485060/filing-history
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/SC485103/filing-history
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/SC486910/filing-history

Some of the information you have requested has already been released to you in the response for FoI/18/02623 at appeal stage 2 on 9 May 2019.

Some of the information you have requested has already been released to you in the response for FoI/19/00022 after review on 19 February 2019. This information can also be found at:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-19-00022-review/

Finally, some of the information you have requested has already been released to you in the response for FoI/19/00528 on 14 March 2019. This information can also be found at:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-19-00528/

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) also applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party 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. 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.

Exemptions apply, subject to the public interest test
An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because it relates to commercial information that may prejudice the company. 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, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in high quality policy and decision-making, and in the properly considered development and implementation. This means that Ministers and officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications.

About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.