Correspondence regarding Independent Scotland: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Information requested
1.All meetings held or attended by Jamie Hepburn between July 1 2023 and the date of this FOI, including minutes/notes from them, and a list of attendees.
2. How many social media videos about independence have been created by the Scottish Government so far this year? List of these videos and the costs of creating them?
3. All briefings, internal correspondence and research done for the Scottish Government between January 1 2023 and the date of this FOI about an independent Scotland joining NATO?
4. All correspondence, including internal, between the Scottish Government, the Scotland Office, Lord Foulkes, UK civil servants working under Simon Case, and Simon Case, between July 1 2023 and the date of this FOI.
5. How many meetings have the constitutional Futures division held between July 1 2023 and the date of this FOI? Can you supply a full list of these meetings and minutes from them, including who attended?
6. All research undertaken, briefings for ministers and internal correspondence between July 1 2023 and the date of this FOI about a trade border between an independent Scotland in the EU and England.
Response
Part 1 - All meetings held or attended by Jamie Hepburn between July 1 2023 and the date of this FOI, including minutes/notes from them, and a list of attendees.
Some of the information that you have requested is at Annex A.
Additionally, the following meetings took place but we do not hold information about attendees or notes.
- 5th July – 1:1 introductory meeting with John Webster of the Scotland House to allow Mr Hepburn to become familiar with Mr Webster’s work.
- 5th July – Introductory meeting with Scottish Government employees at Scotland House, all of whom, apart from John Webster, are below the grade of Senior Civil Servant.
This is a formal notice under Section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.
An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (Personal Information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party 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.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance an exemption under Section 30(c) (Prejudice to the Effective Conduct of Public Affairs) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. The reason why this exemption applies is because releasing minutes of discussions regarding the prospectus series, which do not reflect final decisions taken, would result in inaccurate information on the Scottish Government’s proposals for an independent Scotland being published, thereby undermining the Scottish Government’s ability to effectively and accurately engage and communicate with the public. This in turn would be likely to impair the Government’s ability to take forward its work on policy development for an independent Scotland. This would constitute substantial prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs in terms of the exemption.
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 a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in enabling the Scottish Government to effectively and accurately engage and communicate with the public on its proposals for an independent Scotland without the risk of these proposals being prejudiced by inaccurate information, which doesn’t reflect final decisions taken.
An exemption under Section 30(b)(i) and 30(b)(ii) applies to some of the information requested. The reason why this exemption applies is explained in Annex D of this letter.
Part 2 - How many social media videos about independence have been created by the Scottish Government so far this year? List of these videos and the costs of creating them?
An exemption under 25(1) of FOISA applies to the material you have requested. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.
All content created by the Scottish Government in relation to independence is publicly available on our social media channels:
https://www.instagram.com/scotgov/
https://www.facebook.com/TheScottishGovernment/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/thescottishgovernment
https://www.youtube.com/scottishgovernment
There has been no spend on social media creation or promotion in relation to independence. All social media content in relation to independence has been created in-house by Scottish Government staff.
Part 3 - All briefings, internal correspondence and research done for the Scottish Government between January 1 2023 and the date of this FOI about an independent Scotland joining NATO?
Some of the information you have requested is included in Annex B.
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 30(c) (Prejudice to the Effective Conduct of Public Affairs) and Section 36(1) (legal advice) of FOISA apply to the information. The reason why these exemption applies is explained in Annex D.
Additionally, an exemption under 25(1) of FOISA applies to some of the material in scope. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.
Outwith FOISA, you might find it helpful to note that documents used for research purposes can be accessed through the following links:
Scotland: A Touchstone for Security in the High North?
Part 4 - All correspondence, including internal, between the Scottish Government, the Scotland Office, Lord Foulkes, UK civil servants working under Simon Case, and Simon Case, between July 1 2023 and the date of this FOI.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. While you clarified that your request related to constitutional matters, the request asks for correspondence involving every Scottish Government and UK Government civil servant and locating and providing all of the material would require significant time and resource. 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. For example, you may wish to specify which division within the Scottish Government that you are most interested in so we can focus our searches on those specific areas. 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.
Part 5 - How many meetings have the constitutional Futures division held between July 1 2023 and the date of this FOI? Can you supply a full list of these meetings and minutes from them, including who attended?
Since 1st July 2023 to the date of this FOI, the Constitutional Futures Division have had 24 divisional meetings. These consist of two weekly divisional meetings.
As the meetings were informal sessions for CFD staff to provide regular updates, there was no requirement for formal minutes to be recorded. This is a formal notice under S.17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.
The CFD Deputy Director, Brian Dornan, would normally attend these meetings as would other CFD staff. An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (Personal Information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party 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.
Part 6 - All research undertaken, briefings for ministers and internal correspondence between July 1 2023 and the date of this FOI about a trade border between an independent Scotland in the EU and England.
Some of the information you have requested is included in Annex C.
Section 30(c) (Prejudice to the Effective Conduct of Public Affairs) of FOISA apply to some of the information requested. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in the Annex D of this letter.
An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (Personal Information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party 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.
An exemption under Section 30(b)(i) applies to some of the information requested. The reason why this exemption applies is explained in Annex D of this letter.
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Contact
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Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
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