The Scottish Government raising awareness on performance enhancing drugs: FOI release

Information requested

What spending, if any, has the Scottish Government made to raise awareness of or tackle the negative side effects of Steroids, Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs) and other Image and Performance enhancing Drugs (IPEDs) within the last three financial years?

Where possible, please provide a breakdown of what was spent on what initiatives, and a brief description of these initiatives?

Please provide any minutes for meetings, or consultation responses, for any Scottish Government engagement with external agencies or members of the public on the subject of Steroids, SARMs, or IPEDs from within the last 10 years? 

Please send a copy of any briefings, advice, or other formal documents given to Ministers in the last five years discussing Steroids, SARMs or other IPEDs. 

Could you please provide the minutes from any meetings with ministers within the last 5 years where Steroids, SARMs, or other IPEDs were discussed?

Please provide information on the number of civil servants who work in any drugs policy unit, and within the health directorate. Please then provide a number of civil servants within those groups who have a policy remit relating to Steroids, SARMs, or other image and performance enhancing drugs?

Response

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

There has been no spending to raise awareness of tackle the negative side effects of Steroids, Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs) and other Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs (IPEDs) within the last three financial years. 

There have been no consultation response on the subject of Steroids, SARMs or IPEDs within the last 10 years.

There are 1,644 civil servants working within the Director-General for Health and Social Care. There are 47 civil servants who work in drugs policy. Of those, less than 5 have a policy remit relating to SARMs and IPEDs.

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 12(1)  (Complying will exceed the upper cost limit) of FOISA applies to that information.

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. The remaining questions were too broad in terms of their time frame and search. 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. 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.