Correspondence regarding closure of 218 service: FOI release

Information requested

'Please provide me with the following in relation to the imminent closure of the 218 Centre Bath St:

1. A copy of the last review of the centre submitted to the government by Glasgow City Council with a date.

2. The dates of any discussions with Scottish Government about the 218 centre in the past 12 months.

3. Copies of any emails or minutes or contemporaneous notes of any discussions held between Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government about 218 in the last 12 months.

4. An explanation of the nature and terms of the grant of £1.5m made to Glasgow City Council for the 218 centre referred to in the letter from Michael Matheson to Claire Haughey MSP as Chair of the Health Committee.'

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested below.

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 the following sections apply:

• s30: Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs (i) the free and frank provision of advice; and (ii) the free and frank exchange of views for the purpose of deliberation.
• s38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information.

The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in Annex A to this letter.

1. A copy of the last review of the centre submitted to the government by Glasgow city council with a date.

A copy of the last dated review of the 218 Service received by the Scottish Government, in the form of a PDF file, is attached.

2. The dates of any discussions with Scottish Government about the 218 centre in the past 12 months.

The below table includes the dates of meetings or discussions that Scottish Government officials have participated in with Glasgow City Council about the 218 service in the past 12 months:

Organisation	Dates
Glasgow City Council	27 January 2023
Glasgow City Council	13 April 2023
Glasgow City Council	05 May 2023
Glasgow City Council	01 June 2023
Glasgow City Council	03 November 2023
Glasgow City Council	14 December 2023

3. Copies of any emails or minutes or contemporaneous notes of any discussions held between Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government about 218 in the last 12 months.

I enclose a copy of the information you requested in the form of PDF files, as attached.

4. An explanation of the nature and terms of the grant of £1.5m made to Glasgow City Council for the 218 centre referred to in the letter from Michael Matheson to Claire Haughey MSP as Chair of the Health Committee.

A copy of the Conditions of Grant letter to Glasgow City Council for the delivery of Justice Social Work services, in the form of a PDF file, is attached.

Annex A

Reasons for not providing information

An exemption applies.

An exemption applies under section(s) s.38(i)(b) – this exemption regulates the relationship between FOISA, the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. The exemptions in s.38 are mostly absolute, which means that they are not subject to the public interest test therefore 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 s.30 applies, subject to the public interest test.

Section 30 – Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs

• Section 30 of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested and exempts it from disclosure as this would or would be likely to inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation.
• 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.
• On the public interest test I have considered the open and frank discussion with Glasgow HSCP staff. While there is a public interest in releasing the information to allow better understanding of any relevant issues considered and discussed, this is arguably outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that local authorities are able to have open discussions with the SG about sensitive financial matters and the provision of services locally – and that releasing the material identified in full would be likely to substantially inhibit that in future.

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 202300390904 - Information Released - Attachments

File type

PDF

File size

1.2 MB