Publication - FOI/EIR release

Correspondence regarding Short-Term Let Licensing: FOI release

Published: 21 March 2024
Directorate: Local Government and Housing Directorate
Topic: Housing, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202300389104
Date received: 12 December 2023
Date responded: 11 January 2024

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

Information requested

All correspondence between Scottish Government Officials and Ministers and HomeLink and any other Home Swapping and Time Share organisation since 2021 regarding Short-Term Let Licensing.

Response

I enclose a copy of the information you have requested. Some parts of the documents that we are disclosing are subject to FOISA exemptions, which I will explain here. Where either exemption applies information has been redacted to exclude only the information which falls under these exemptions – the rest of the document is enclosed.

An exemption under Section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because it is personal data of a third party, for example, names and contact details of officials, 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 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. We recognise that there is some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. 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 in relation to some parts of the documents we are disclosing.

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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.