Former First Minister's wife's trip to Istanbul: FOI release

Information requested

All communication between the Scottish Government and the SNP regarding First Minister Humza Yousafs wife's trip to Istanbul following an invitation from the Turkish President's wife for the ‘One Heart for Palestine' event. Please include:

-All email communication between civil servants, secretaries, MSPs and the Scottish National Party from November 5th 2023 until January 23rd 2024.

-Any notes of phone calls between civil servants, secretaries, MSPs and the Scottish National Party from November 5th 2023 until January 23rd 2024.

-Specifically any mention of an SNP press officer accompanying Nadia El-Nakla on her trip to Istanbul on November 15th 2023.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested in the PDF attached.

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 sections s.32(1)(a) (international relations) and s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why those exemptions apply are explained below.

Exemptions under sections s.38(1)(b) and s.32(1)(a) of FOISA apply to some of the information you have requested. This is because some of the information requested contains personal information, and some of the information requested relates to international relations and would likely prejudice substantially relations between the UK and another state.

Exemption s.38(1)(b) 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.

Exemption s.32(1)(a) 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 because of interest in open and transparent government and because of current heightened media interest in the Scottish Government’s international activity. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in the Scottish Government being able to build strong relationships with other countries.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The reasons why we don't have the information are explained below.

The Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have asked for because the Scottish Government does not hold recorded information which specifically mentioned an “SNP press officer accompanying Nadia El-Nakla on her trip to Instanbul on November 15th 2023".

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

You may also wish to contact the Scottish National Party at info@snp.org who may be able to help you.

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 202400395334 - Information released - Attachment

File type

4 page PDF

File size

136.2 kB