Former First Minister's foreign meetings and United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) funding: FOI release

Information requested

1. Can you supply all emails and correspondence received or sent by the Scottish Government which mentions Nadia El-Nakla, between October 1 2023 and the date of this FOI.

2. All correspondence sent and received, including internal, briefings and notes prepared for and about Humza Yousaf's meeting with Zhang Biao in January, from between November 1 2023 and the date of this FOI.
-Include all correspondence about setting up the meetings, and analysis of the meeting.

3. All correspondence between Humza Yousaf, the Scottish Government and the UK Government, which is about his meeting with President Erdogan at Cop28, dated between October 15 2023 and the date of this FOI.

4. All discussions, notes, and briefings written by the Scottish Government about Humza Yousaf's meeting with Erdogan, including responses for news articles, dated between October 15 2023 and the date of this FOI.

5. All correspondence, minutes, notes, briefings and internal correspondence, received, sent and written by the Scottish Government about funding the UNRWA, from between October 15 2023 and the date of this FOI.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested as PDFs.

As your request contains multiple questions, I will set out a general response which applies across this request before addressing each question individually.

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 an exemption under section s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why that exemption applies is explained below.

An exemption under section s.38(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is because some of the information contains personal information of a third party.

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.

Question 1 Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. This is because a search for mentions of "Nadia El-Nakla" and "El-Nakla" returns a significant amount of
correspondence which I have calculated would take a significantly long time to process for release and cost well over the upper cost limit. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. This might best be done by specifying the subject(s) or business area(s) in which you are interested, or narrowing the timeframe, for example. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx.

Question 2 Response

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.30(c) (conduct of public affairs) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained below.

Exemptions under sections s.32(1)(a) and s.30(c) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is because the information relates to the meeting note of a meeting with Consul General Zhang Baio, a representative of the Chinese government and briefing supplied to a minister ahead of this meeting.

These exemptions are 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 public interest in openness and transparency and because of elevated interest in the Scottish Government's international work in the media. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in preventing damage to relations between the UK government and other states and interest in Scotland being able to build relationships with other countries. It is also outweighed by public interest in officials being able to perform the important public function of briefing ministers on sensitive issues.

Question 3 Response

Information is enclosed in the PDFs attached.

Question 4 Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. This is because a search for documents and correspondence relating to the meeting with President Erdogan at COP28 including all discussions, notes, and briefings as well as responses for news articles returns a significant amount of correspondence which I have calculated would take a significantly long time to process for release and cost over the upper cost limit. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. This might best be done by specifying the business area(s) in which you are interested, for example. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx.

Question 5 Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. This is because a search for documents and correspondence relating to UNRWA funding returns a significant amount of correspondence which I have calculated would take a significantly long time to process for release and cost well over the upper cost limit. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. This might best be done by specifying the business area(s) in which you are interested, or narrowing the timeframe, for example. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at:
http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx.

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 202400396760 - Information released - Attachments 1 & 2

File type

20 page PDF

File size

306.9 kB