The Post Office Horizon IT issues: FOI release

Information requested

1. Any correspondence (in email or letter form) addressed to the then Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill or their office, or any other department of the Scottish Government, from the Crown Office that refers specifically to Post Office Horizon IT issues (Between May 1st 2013 to May 1st 2015).

2. Any correspondence sent to the Crown Office (in email or letter form) written from then Cabinet Secretary Kenny MacAskill or Michael Matheson, or their office that refers specifically to Post Office Horizon IT issues (Between May 1st 2013 to May 1st 2015).

3. The time and date of when the Scottish Government believes it was first informed by the Crown Office (or possibly by another body) about the Post Office Horizon IT issues.

Response

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for at points 1 and 2 of your request. We do not hold any correspondence between the Crown Office and the office of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice between the 2 dates identified which refers specifically to Post Office Horizon IT issues.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

In relation to your third request, management of the Post Office is a reserved matter for the UK Government, and the Scottish Government has no role in the investigation of miscarriages of justice, which is a matter for the independent Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission. The Scottish Government was first formally notified about the Post Office Horizon IT issues by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission during the course of a quarterly meeting which took at 2.00pm on 2 July 2020.

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.