Housing to 2040 Strategic Board meeting March 2023: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for the Housing to 2040 Strategic Board terms of reference, membership, and the agenda and draft minutes for the March 2023 meeting, and to also provide notes recorded by the government, including onenote memos taken at the meeting.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested - the agenda for the meeting and a copy of the Scottish Government media press release on 22 March which announced the Board and its membership.

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(s) under section(s) s.27 (1) of FOISA applies to that information.

An exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information requested because we intend to publish the papers of the 22 March meeting of the Strategic Board once they are cleared by the Board and within 12 weeks of the date of your request.

We consider that it is reasonable to withhold the information until that date, rather than release this routinely published information before the publication date.

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 some public interest in its release and this will be met by our planned publication. In the meantime, there is a greater public interest in taking the time necessary to ensure the information has been properly collated and checked before it is published as planned. Also, we see no public interest in disrupting the work of the Strategic Board to release the information ahead of the intended publication date.

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.

FOI 202300349465 - Information Released - Agenda

File type

1 page PDF

File size

124.6 kB

FOI 202300349465 - Information Released - Press Release

File type

1 page PDF

File size

107.0 kB