Information pertaining to Brexit, Covid - 19 vaccines and complaints in the workplace: FOI release

Information requested

• Any correspondence (including emails, letters, and meeting notes) between Scottish Government officials and officials from the UK Government regarding the impact of Brexit on Scotland's economy, including any discussions related to the Brexit Deal or the Northern Ireland Protocol, between January 2021 and the present date.
• The total number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered in Scotland from the start of the vaccination program until the present date, broken down by age group and health board.
• Information regarding the number of complaints received by the Scottish Government regarding discrimination or harassment in the workplace in the last year (2022), including the nature of the complaints and any actions taken by the Scottish Government in response.

Response

Response to your request - Brexit correspondence

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing "correspondence (including emails, letters, and meeting notes) between Scottish Government officials and officials from the UK Government regarding the impact of Brexit on Scotland's economy, including any discussions related to the Brexit Deal or the Northern Ireland Protocol, between January 2021 and the present date" would exceed the upper cost limit of £600 as this covers a extensive range of discussions by a wide range of policy areas. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. In particular the costs involved here are largely arising from the wide range of areas impacted by the UK-EU relationship so you might find it helpful to specify what issues within the UK-EU relationship you are looking for. Alternatively you may wish to specify the seniority (i.e. ministerial) of the contacts you are looking for. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx.

Response to your request - Vaccination program

For information on the vaccination program, most of the information you have requested can be found at the links below:

• Latest COVID-19 and Flu Autumn/Winter 2022 dashboard: Flu and COVID-19 vaccination uptake in Scotland dashboard - COVID-19 statistical report - 28 September 2022 - COVID-19 statistical report - Publications - Public Health Scotland
• COVID-19 vaccines by Health Board and age (Dec 2020 – Jun 2021): ARCHIVED – COVID-19 Vaccination in Scotland up to September 2022 - Daily Trend of Vaccinations by Health Board Dec 2020 – June 2021 - Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data (nhs.scot)
• COVID-19 vaccines by Health Board and age (Jul 2021 – Dec 2021): ARCHIVED – COVID-19 Vaccination in Scotland up to September 2022 - Daily Trend of Vaccinations by Health Board July 2021 – Dec 2021 - Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data (nhs.scot)
• COVID-19 vaccines by Health Board and age (Jan 2022 – Jun 2022): ARCHIVED – COVID-19 Vaccination in Scotland up to September 2022 - Daily Trend of Vaccinations by Health Board Jan 2022 – June 2022 - Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data (nhs.scot)
• COVID-19 vaccines by Health Board and age (Jul 2022 – Sep 2022): ARCHIVED – COVID-19 Vaccination in Scotland up to September 2022 - Daily Trend of Vaccinations by Health Board July 2022 – Dec 2022 - Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data (nhs.scot)
• COVID-19 Autumn/Winter 2022 Vaccines by Health Board: Flu & COVID vaccinations - COVID - eligible uptake - Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data (nhs.scot)
• COVID-19 Autumn/Winter 2022 Vaccines by JCVI Priority Group (including people aged 65 and over and people aged 50 to 64): Flu & COVID vaccinations - COVID - JCVI - Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data (nhs.scot)

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the websites listed above, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

The Scottish Government does not have a small amount of the information you have asked for because Public Health Scotland has not yet published its breakdown of vaccinations by health board and age for the Autumn/Winter vaccination program.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

However, you may wish to contact Public Health Scotland at who may be able to help you. They can be contacted here: Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests - Contact us - Public Health Scotland

Response to your request - Complaints of discrimination and harassment

With regards the "number of complaints received by the Scottish Government regarding discrimination or harassment in the workplace in the last year (2022), including the nature of the complaints and any actions taken by the Scottish Government in response." You will wish to be aware that the following information is based on staff employed within the Core Directorates of the Scottish Government (see Annex A) and covers the period from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring the work environment is free from bullying, harassment, discrimination and victimisation. Our grievance policy provides an important route through which work related concerns, problems or issues can be raised and responded to (there is a separate process for complaints about Ministers/former Ministers). Complaints about discrimination or harassment can also be raised through an Employment Tribunal.

The answer to your question is that there were 3 complaints about discrimination and 4 complaints about harassment raised through our grievance policy and/or Employment Tribunal in 2022.

In relation to the nature of the complaints and the actions taken as a result, an exemption under section 35(1)(g) (Substantial prejudice to the exercise of specified functions) as read with sections 35(2)(b) (ascertaining whether a person is responsible for conduct which is improper) and 35(2)(i) (securing the health, safety and welfare of persons at work) of FOISA applies. This exemption applies because disclosure of these details would breach the reasonable expectations of confidentiality of those who made the complaint. Therefore, we consider that if future complainers reasonably believe that information about a complaint would be disclosed in a manner not consistent with the process and expectations at the time of the complaint, then they would lose confidence and be substantially inhibited from making complaints. We have concluded that disclosure of the details surrounding these complaints would cause substantial prejudice to the Scottish Government’s ability to process future complaints of improper conduct and in turn, to secure the health, safety and welfare of persons at work.

This exemption is subject to the public interest test. We have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying for the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is a general public interest in disclosure as part of open and transparent government. We also recognise that there is a public interest in understanding how the Scottish Government deals with complaints of improper conduct (discrimination or harassment). However, we consider that there is a greater public interest in ensuring that future complainers are not deterred from making complaints and in respecting the confidentiality which they reasonably expect as part of that process. The function of ascertaining whether a person is responsible for improper conduct would be frustrated in its entirety if complainers were unwilling to make such complaints because they reasonably believed that details surrounding the complaint would be made public in a manner inconsistent with the expectations at the time of the complaint. This in turn would impact on our ability to secure the health, safety and welfare of people at work.

You may, however, find the attached information on the definitions of ‘discrimination’ and ‘harassment’ as used within the grievance policy and the flowchart on our process for responding to grievances helpful.

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 202300349502 - Information Released -Annex A

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