Publication - FOI/EIR release

Guarantee and Reimbursement Agreement (GRA) with GFG Alliance companies: FOI release

Published: 7 July 2021
Directorate: Economic Development Directorate
Topic: Business, industry and innovation, Money and tax, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202100196377
Date received: 22 April 2021
Date responded: 21 June 2021

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

Information requested

Please can you supply the following information:

The Guarantee and Reimbursement Agreement (GRA) between Scottish Ministers and GFG Alliance companies and any subsequent amendments made to the agreement.

The Guarantee Fee Letter which sets out the terms of the guarantee fee and any subsequent amendments made to the letter.

Response

Attached is a copy of some of the information requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested as exemptions under FOISA apply. Further information on what exemptions apply and why can be found in the Annex.

Annex
REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION

Section 33(1)(b) – Commercial Interest and the Economy
An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because it is likely to prejudice substantially the commercial interests of the parties to the GRA. This exemption applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of the commercial entities involved. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking into 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 some public interest in release to ensure full transparency. However, this is outweighed by the public interest as there is a risk to the companies commercial interests.

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.

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