Domestic Abuse Leavers Fund- Scottish Women’s Aid: FOI Review

Information requested

Original request (202300372279)

• a list of all meetings held with Scottish Women’s Aid on the topic of a leavers fund to support victims of domestic abuse to leave abusive relationships.
• all correspondence related to these meetings including the minutes of the meeting, any briefing notes provided to ministers related to these meetings, any notes or analysis produced before or after the meeting related to the establishment of a leavers fund for victims of domestic abuse, and any proposed timeline that may have been produced regarding the establishment of a leavers fund.

Response

Further to my letter of 28 September, I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for:

• Please provide a list of all meetings held with Scottish Women’s Aid on the topic of a leavers fund to support victims of domestic abuse to leave abusive relationships.

• Please provide all correspondence related to these meetings including the minutes of the meeting, any briefing notes provided to ministers related to these meetings, any notes or analysis produced before or after the meeting related to the establishment of a leavers fund for victims of domestic abuse, and any proposed timeline that may have been produced regarding the establishment of a leavers fund.

I have concluded that the original decision should be confirmed, with modifications.

You highlighted that there are heavy redactions on pages 28,29,36,37,46 and 47 and wanted a review to check that these should all be redacted because it was not immediately clear why some points would be redacted when other points are not.

I have concluded that the original decision should be confirmed, with modifications.

• The original decision cited exemption 30(b)(ii), freed and frank advice as the reason for redaction. In fact, some of the information is withheld under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA which covers the free and frank exchange of views with stakeholders. A small amount of material that was redacted in the original response has been released, for consistency and to provide context for unredacted sections.
• In conducting the review, we identified some additional material that we consider to be within the scope of your request but which were not identified as being in scope in consideration of the original request. This is included in the revised response.
• In relation to the redactions on the pages that you asked about, they are in line with the exemptions set out below. The content that is redacted relates to areas of discussion where views are being gathered from stakeholders on areas of policy where decisions have not been made e.g. in relation to costs, criteria for the fund, the delivery method, data gathering and outcomes.

Section 38(1)(b) – Personal Information An exemption(s) under Section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, for example, names and contact details of officials and stakeholders, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of Scottish Ministers, special advisers and the Permanent Secretary are covered by the terms of the Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016. See www.lobbying.scot St Andrew's House, Regent Road, Edinburgh EH1 3DG www.gov.scot 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.

Section 30(b)(i) – free and frank provision of advicein relation to the provision of advice by officials to Ministers.
An exemption under Section 30(b)(ii) of FOISA (frank and free exchange of views applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice or exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. This exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to provide free and frank advice to ministers and explore options before Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. Disclosing the content of free and frank advice about financial support to leave an abusive partner will substantially inhibit provision of such advice and such discussion for the future, particularly as this is a sensitive issue. 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 release as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, disclosure of some of the information requested is likely to undermine the quality of advice to Minsters on an area of policy for which not all decisions have been made, which would not be in the public interest.

Section 30(b)(ii) – free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation in relation to communications/meetings with external stakeholders.
An exemption under section 30(b)(ii) of FOISA (free and frank exchange of views) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. This exemption recognises the need for Ministers and officials to have a private space within which to discuss issues and options with external stakeholders before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. Disclosing the content of these discussions with on will substantially inhibit such discussions in the future, because these stakeholders will be reluctant to provide their views fully and frankly if they believe that those views are likely to be made public, particularly while these discussions are still ongoing and not all decisions have been taken and where these discussions relate to a sensitive issue such as financial support to leave an abusive partner. 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 allowing Ministers and officials a private space within which to communicate with appropriate external stakeholders as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government’s final policy on financial support to leave an abusive partner,
until there has been agreement on a policy and delivery mechanism that is sound and likely to be effective. This private space is essential to enable information to be provided so that evidenced
decisions can be taken based on fully informed advice, such as that provided in comments redacted in the documents. Premature disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between the Scottish Government and these stakeholders, which would not be in the public interest.

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 - 202300377738 - Information Released - Annex

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