Communications relating to the arrest of Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon: FOI release

Information requested

• All internal correspondence/communication regarding the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon. This should include (but not be limited to) emails, documents, WhatsApp messages, letters and call logs.
• All external correspondence/communication regarding the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon. This should include (but not be limited to) emails, documents, WhatsApp messages, letters and call logs.

Response

I attach a copy of most of the information you requested.

Some of the information you have requested (earlier exchanges in the email trail between the Permanent Secretary's office and the First Ministers' Private Office) is available in our previous responses to your Freedom of Information requests 202300353098 and 202300353106. 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 access to this information, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

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 s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of the names/contact details of third parties, 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.

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 202300361223 - Information Released - Documents 1 to 13

File type

22 page PDF

File size

784.2 kB