Meetings attended by the Housing Minister - December 2023: FOI release

Information requested

• A list of all the meetings the Housing Minister had and with whom he met on 20 December 2023
• All briefings provided to the Housing Minister in advance of his meetings on 20 December 2023
• Copies of all notes, handwritten or digital, take by all officials present at the meetings the Housing Minister had on 20 December 2023

Response

A list of meetings the Housing Minister attended on 20 December 2023 is provided below:

• Visit to Community Help and Advice Initiative, Edinburgh
• Meeting with Shelter (Budget)
• Meeting with Rettie & Co (Budget)
• Meeting with Scottish Property Federation (Budget)
• Meeting with Everyone Home Collective (Budget)
• Meeting with Homes for Scotland (Budget)
• Regular catch up meeting with Joe Fitzpatrick
• Meeting with COSLA (Budget)
• Meeting with ALACHO (Budget)
• Meeting with UKAA (budget)
• Meeting with Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (Budget)

The briefings and notes in relation to these meetings are provided as a separate attachment. I can confirm there were no handwritten notes.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names/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) also applies to a very small amount of information requested because it relates to the formulation and development Scottish Government policy. 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.

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FOI 202300390791 - Information Released - Annex A

File type

33 page PDF

File size

345.8 kB