Correspondence regarding Scottish Golf Open and Ministerial communications: FOI release

Information requested

1. All correspondence, including internal correspondence, between the Scottish Government and organisers of the Scottish Golf Open about ministerial appearances at the event between July 13 and 16.

2. All briefings for ministers prepared for the event in question one, plus all minutes from meetings held there and the itinerary from the ministerial visit.

3. All minutes and notes from the meeting held between Humza Yousaf and Andy Burnham on August 22.

4. All correspondence, including internal correspondence about Murray Foote, between the Scottish Government and Murray Foote between January 1 2023 and the date of this FOI.

5. All correspondence, including internal correspondence about Kezia Dugdale, between the Scottish Government and Kezia Dugdale between January 1 2023 and the date of his FOI.

6. All correspondence, including internal correspondence about Patrick Grady, between the Scottish Government and Patrick Grady between January 1 2023 and the date of his FOI.

7. All correspondence, including internal correspondence about Ian Blackford between the Scottish Government and Ian Blackford between July 1 and the date of his FOI.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you 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 sections s.29(1)(a) (policy formulation), s.38(1)(b) (personal information) and s.12 (SG trawl exceeds upper cost limit) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions have been applied are explained below.

Section 29(1)(a) – (formulation or development of government policy). An exemption under section 29(1)(a) of FOISA (formulation or development of government policy) applies to some of the information requested under both Q1 and Q2 because it relates to the formulation of the Scottish Government’s policy on Major Events.

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 the Scottish Government’s policy on Major Events 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.

Section 38(1)(b) – applicant has asked for personal data of a third party. An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of some of the information requested under both Q1 and Q2 because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names 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.

In addition, some of the redaction relates to the disclosure of staff details outwith Senior Civil Service and release would not be appropriate under the Public Interest Test. This is in line with established exemption in para 82 et seq of the FOISA Guidance.

Section 12 - SG wide trawl exceeding upper cost limit - 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 in relation to questions 4-7. The reason for this is that to locate and retrieve that information we would need to conduct a search of all of the records of the Scottish Government. It may help if I explain that we file our information according to the subject matter, not by reference to the names of individuals/organisations with whom we have corresponded. 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 could specify the subject matter(s) of the correspondence you are interested in or restrict your request to a specific business area of the Scottish Government, as this would allow us to limit the searches that would require to be conducted. 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.

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 202300381827 - Information Released - Annex

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13 page PDF

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