Publication - FOI/EIR release

Scottish Business Resilience Centre financial support and correspondence: FOI release

Published: 24 November 2020
Directorate: Economic Development Directorate
Topic: Business, industry and innovation, Economy, Money and tax, +1 more … Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202000085097
Date received: 7 September 2020
Date responded: 2 October 2020

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

Information requested

1) Detail of any financial support provided to the Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC) in the last three financial years including 2020/21 so far and anticipated further funding.

2) Any correspondence between Jude McCorry, the chief executive of SBRC, and Scottish Government officials between January 1 and June 30 on the topic of 'Scottish Business Cares'.

3) Any correspondence from Scottish Government officials on the topic of Scottish Business Cares which includes the phrase "Paul Atkinson".

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 an exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies. The reason why this exemption applies is explained in the Annex below.

1) The Scottish Government proactively publishes the details of financial support over £25,000 granted to the SBRC regularly. The funding can be found via the following link by selecting a month and searching ‘Scottish Business Resilience Centre’ - https://www.gov.scot/collections/government-spend-over-gbp25000-monthly-reports/

I have provided a breakdown of Scottish Government financial support provided to the SBRC in the last three financial years (including FY 2020-2021) below:

Payee	Amount Paid	Date Paid	Directorate
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£6,025.00	27-Aug-20	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£194,500.00	15-Jun-20	Directorate for Economic Development
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£98,000.00	15-Jun-20	Directorate for Economic Development
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£49,175.00	23-Jun-20	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£25,000.00	01-May-20	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£31,250.00	24-Apr-20	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£31,250.00	21-Jan-20	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£50,000.00	11-Dec-19	Directorate for Economic Development
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£31,250.00	01-Nov-19	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£18,000.00	04-Oct-19	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£50,000.00	05-Aug-19	Directorate for Economic Development
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£31,250.00	16-Jul-19	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£31,250.00	07-Jun-19	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£18,000.00	05-Jun-19	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£50,000.00	19-Mar-19	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£9,000.00	23-Jan-19	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£50,000.00	09-Nov-18	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£70,000.00	12-Nov-18	Directorate for Economic Development
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£9,000.00	09-Oct-18	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£50,000.00	04-Sep-18	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£9,000.00	16-Jul-18	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£80,000.00	20-Jun-18	Directorate for Economic Development
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£3,769.90	12-Jun-18	Directorate for Safer Communities
Scottish Business Resilience Centre	£50,000.00	23-Mar-18	Directorate for Safer Communities

For the remaining financial year, the Scottish Business Resilience Centre is due to receive £172,300 in future financial support from the Scottish Government via the Directorate for Safer Communities.

2) Please find the attached correspondence that the Scottish Government holds, that falls within the scope of your request, outlined in Annex B.

3) Please find the attached correspondence that the Scottish Government holds, that falls within the scope of your request, outlined in Annex B.

ANNEX A
REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION
Section 38(1)(b) – Personal data
This exemption applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and contact details, 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.

ANNEX B
LIST OF DOCUMENTS SUPPLIED
Document 1 – Correspondence between Jude McCorry and Scottish Government officials between January 1 and June 30 and correspondence including the phrase ‘Paul Atkinson’
Document 2 – COVID-19 Proposal for Crisis Management Support to Scotland's Businesses
Document 3 – Pandemic – Supporting the Scottish Economy – the central role of the Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC)
Document 4 – Proposal to Scottish Government – Project Concept Form
Document 5 - Offer of Grant for Provision of Business Support and Mentoring to Businesses in Relation to Economic Impacts of COVID-19

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