Dunbar travelling cabinet and Former First Minister's meetings: FOI release

Information requested

1. All correspondence, including internal correspondence, sent and received by the Scottish Government and notes and briefings written for Humza Yousaf's meeting with Michelle O'Neill on November 22, between September 1 2023 and the date of this FOI? Can you include all notes and minutes taken from this meeting, and also correspondence sent to help set it up?

2. All minutes, notes and briefings prepared for and after Humza Yousaf's meeting with Michael Gove at the British Irish Council?

3. All correspondence, including internal correspondence, sent and received by the Scottish Government from the Scottish Trades Union Congress and all notes and briefings written for meetings between them, and minutes from all meetings between them, between September 1 2023 and the date of this FOI?

4. All correspondence, including internal correspondence, sent and received by the Scottish Government, and all notes and briefings about the government's emergency budget meeting on Thursday December 7?

5. All correspondence held by the Scottish Government, including spoken correspondence, which proves that the Cop28 meeting with the Turkish President was rescheduled, and all correspondence that proves the Foreign Office official did not wish to stick with the Scottish delegation?

6. A list of all attendees at the Scottish Government's travelling cabinet in Dunbar?

Response

I have provided a copy of some of the information you requested in questions 1-2, as separate attachments, and a response to question 6 of your request in the annex to this letter. 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 12 (upper cost limit), section 27 (1) (intended for future publication), section 28(1) (relations within the UK), section 29(1)(a)(formulation or development of government policy), section 30(b)(i)(substantial inhibition of free and frank provision of advice), section 30(b)(ii) (the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation), section 32(1)(a) (i) (information that could prejudice relations between the UK and any other state) and section 38(1)(a) (personal information) of FOISA apply to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in the annex to this letter, which also provides an overview of the information I have enclosed in response to your request.

Annex

Below I have provided an overview of the response to each aspect of your request and, where appropriate, set out why exemptions apply.

1. All correspondence, including internal correspondence, sent and received by the Scottish Government and notes and briefings written for Humza Yousaf's meeting with Michelle O'Neill on November 22, between September 1 2023 and the date of this FOI? Can you include all notes and minutes taken from this meeting, and also correspondence sent to help set it up?

Documents 1.1 -1.4 are attached separately. Exemptions under section 28(1) (relations within the UK) and 30(b)(i)(substantial inhibition of free and frank provision of advice), apply to some of the information. An exemption under section 32(1)(a)(i) (information that could prejudice relations between the UK and any other state) of FOISA also applies to some of this information. The exemptions apply as indicated in the attached documents.

These exemptions are 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 some public interest in this release because the public will be interested in the Scottish Government’s conduct of relations with other governments, including governments within the UK and internationally. However, this interest would be outweighed by the need to ensure that Ministers are able to receive free and frank advice in order to facilitate good relations with other governments while also representing the interests of the Scottish Government. The release of information which could prohibit this in future is not in the public interest. It is also important to ensure that good diplomatic relations are maintained with different governments by respecting the confidentiality with which discussions and correspondence are undertaken.

An exemption under section 38(1)(a) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of this information.

2. All minutes, notes and briefings prepared for and after Humza Yousaf's meeting with Michael Gove at the British Irish Council?

Documents 2.1 and 2.2 are attached separately.

3. All correspondence, including internal correspondence, sent and received by the Scottish Government from the Scottish Trades Union Congress and all notes and briefings written for meetings between them, and minutes from all meetings between them, between September 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. During our searches, we have identified that information that may be in scope is held by at least 16 different policy areas across the Scottish Government. 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.

On this occasion your request will be closed. You may wish to consider submitting a further request in the future with a reduced scope, such as a specific policy interest, which may enable us to answer your enquiry without exceeding the upper cost limit.

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

4. All correspondence, including internal correspondence, sent and received by the Scottish Government, and all notes and briefings about the government's emergency budget meeting on Thursday December 7?

Exemptions under section 29(1)(a)(formulation or development of government policy), section 30(b)(i) (substantial inhibition of free and frank provision of advice) and section 30(b)(ii) (the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation) of FOISA apply to all of the information you have requested. These exemptions are 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 some public interest in release because it may be suggested that releasing this information would enhance public scrutiny of our decision-making or policy-making processes, and therefore our transparency and accountability. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in favour of withholding the information. We already publish a range of material to support and outline our tax policy decision-making process alongside the Budget under open government rules. Releasing this information would reveal the range of options that Ministers were considering. While the decision for Budget 2024-25 has been taken and is public, some of these options may be revisited at next Budget so remain extremely sensitive as they could lead to speculation and artificially impact on behaviours, upset property markets, and be a risk to economic growth.

5. All correspondence held by the Scottish Government, including spoken correspondence, which proves that the Cop28 meeting with the Turkish President was rescheduled, and all correspondence that proves the Foreign Office official did not wish to stick with the Scottish delegation?

An exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applies to all the information requested because we intend to publish that information within 12 weeks of the date of your request. We consider that it is reasonable to withhold the information until that date, rather than release information before the planned publication date. 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 some public interest in this release because the public will be interested in correspondence and discussions between the Scottish Government and another government. However, this interest would be outweighed by the essential need (and therefore public interest) in ensuring that good diplomatic relations are maintained with another country by respecting the confidentiality with which discussions and correspondence were undertaken.

6. A list of all attendees at the Scottish Government's travelling cabinet in Dunbar?

This question has been interpreted as asking which Ministers attended the Cabinet meeting held in Haddington on 11 December 2023 as that is where the Cabinet meeting in East Lothian was held. If your question is referring to something else, please submit a further request.

The Cabinet meeting held in John Muir House in Haddington on 11 December 2023 was attended by the following Ministers. A number of supporting officials were also in attendance.

• First Minister
• Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance
• Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
• Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands
• Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy
• Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care
• Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition
• Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture
• Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice
• Minister for Parliamentary Business
• Minister for Victims and Community Safety
• Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity

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 202300389112 - Information released - Attachments 1 - 6

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18 page PDF

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