King's Theatre National Lottery Heritage Fund award: FoI release

Information requested

In January 2023 the National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded £1.7m to the King’s Theatre Edinburgh.  In March 2023 Scottish Government gave £9.8m to the King’s Theatre Edinburgh (subsidy SC10882).

Kindly provide:
1. the business case for the funding and
2. all documents which explain why this wasn’t referred to the Subsidy Advice Unit under the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Response

Regarding point 1, I enclose a copy of the information you have 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 because exemptions under section 33(1)(b) (substantial prejudice to commercial interests); and section 38(1)(b) (third party data), of FOISA apply to that information. 

Regarding point 2, we do not hold any documentation on this. The Scottish Government awarded £9.8m to the King's Theatre Edinburgh in March 2023 and I would draw your attention to the published
information on the transparency database, which is available to view at https://searchforuksubsidies.beis.gov.uk/scheme/?scheme=SC10882.

Exemptions
An exemption under section 33(1)(b) (substantial prejudice to commercial interests) of FOISA applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of the parties involved. 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 recognise that there is a public interest in
disclosing information as part of open and transparent government. However, we have found that on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal data of a third party) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested, as disclosure would contravene the data protection principles in Article
5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation. 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 202300367965 - Information released

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76 page PDF

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1.6 MB