Peel Ports payments and correspondence regarding Ardrossan Ferry Service transfer: FOI Review

Information requested

Original request - 202300373584

Please find below two requests which I wish to be treated as two separate Freedom of Information Requests under the relevant act:

1. An Itemised breakdown of payments made to Peel Ports between 2017 and the date of this request
2. All communication between Transport Scotland and Associated British Ports in relation to the transfer of the Ardrossan Ferry Service to Troon.

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for:

1. An Itemised breakdown of payments made to Peel Ports between 2017 and the date of this request.
2. All communication between Transport Scotland and Associated British Ports in relation to the transfer of the Ardrossan Ferry Service to Troon.”

I have concluded that a different decision should be substituted.

You explained that links were not included in our FOI response to you dated 21 September 2023, I apologise that these were omitted. I have checked the FOI publications website and confirm the documents have not been published as expected and therefore the application of exemption s25(1) (Information otherwise accessible) of FOISA should not have been applied. As part of my review process I have conducted a search for these records and attach them to this letter.

Freedom of Information Request: 202300342058 issued March 2023 - Annex A
Freedom of Information Request: 202200319214 issued September 2022 – Annex B
Freedom of Information Request: 202200297832 issued July 2022 – Annex C

I confirm that these letters provide a breakdown of payments to Peel Ports from 2017 to the date of your request dated 29 August 2023.

Exemption Section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information). This exemption applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, ie names/contact details of individuals, 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 - 202300377290 - Information released - Annex A, Annex B & Annex C

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