Records of Ministerial decisions: FOI release

Information requested

How decisions taken by Scottish ministers are recorded and specifically:

• The system used.
• The information recorded for each decision (eg: date, minister’s name, summary of decision) and a summary of categories (eg positive policy decision, negative funding decision).
• What other information is recorded on this system (eg: submissions and briefings to ministers).

Response

In recording decisions made by Scottish Ministers, the Scottish Government stores them within an electronic Records and Document Management (eRDM) System.

When conveying a Ministerial decision, private offices include a reminder to the relevant policy or corporate officials that the information must be saved as an official record. The relevant policy/corporate team then save this communication into the eRDM system which includes: the specific Minister, the date, and specifically what the Minister has agreed / disagreed to. Also included within the file is a copy of the submission to which the Minister is responding, and there may be other relevant submissions or information that helped inform the submission that was made to the Minister. As this is an eRDM as opposed to a database, there is not a summary of categories to select from.

Further information on the Scottish Government's records management policy can be found on the Scottish Government's website.

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.