Publication - FOI/EIR release

Youth Music Initiative, Education, Young People and Children Committee and Creative Scotland funding: FOI release

Published: 13 August 2024
Directorate: Culture and Major Events Directorate
Topic: Arts, culture and sport, Education, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202300380858
Date received: 13 October 2023
Date responded: 8 November 2023

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Information requested

1. All briefings and correspondence, including internal correspondence and between Ministers and outside bodies, about Youth Music Initiative (YMI), between Jan 1 2023 and the date of this FOI (13 October 2023).

2. All correspondence between Patrick Harvie and his office/Special Advisers and Lee Craigie between Jan 1 2023 and the date of this FOI (13 October 2023).

3. All briefings written for Jenny Gilruth before her appearance in front of the Education, Young People and Children Committee on September 27 2023.

4. All briefings and correspondence, including internal correspondence, received and sent by the Scottish Government and in its Ministers, about the £6.6m cut in funding for Creative Scotland between Sep 1 2023 and the date of this FOI (13 October 2023).

Response

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 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information provided in response to request 3 because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and 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.

An exemption under section 29(1)(a) of FOISA (formulation or development of government policy) applies to some of the information provided in response to request 3 because it relates to the formulation of the Scottish Government’s policy on funding arrangements for the Scottish Attainment Challenge. 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 high quality policy and decision-making, and in the properly considered implementation and development of policies and decisions. This means that Ministers and officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications. Their candour in doing so will be affected by their assessment of whether the discussions on funding arrangements for the Scottish Attainment Challenge will be disclosed in the near future, when it may undermine or constrain the Government’s view on that policy while it is still under discussion and development.

An exemption under section 12 of FOISA (excessive cost of compliance) applies to all of the information gathered in response to 1 and 4. 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 under section 12. The reasons why this exemption applies are explained in Annex A and D to this letter.

The following annexes enclose the information requested and have been attached separately:

Annex A contains our response to request (1), subject to the exemption under section 12 as noted above.
Annex B contains information relating to request (2).
Annex C contains information relating to request (3), subject to exemptions under section 29(1)(a) and 38(1)(b) as noted above.
Annex D contains our response to request (4), subject to exemption under section 12 as noted above.

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.