Scottish Government devices, use of WhatsApps and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Information requested
1. How many Scottish Government devices have been stolen or lost in the past three years, broken down by year, what device it is and why it went missing/if it was found or what the outcome was?
-Could you also supply how much these lost or stolen devices have cost the government, with a breakdown of costs?
2. Could you supply the guidance surrounding whether FOI requests are shown to Ministers and how many FOI in the last year, including a percentage, have been seen by Ministers?
3. Could you supply the current progress being made about the investigation into the Governments use of WhatsApps etc for Government business as announced by the Scottish Information Commissioner and Humza Yousaf in February and all documentation held surrounding this, between February 4 2024 and and April 4 2024?
4. When speaking on Good Morning Scotland on February 5, Minister George Adam said about FOIs: "Since I've been in post, I've made sure that we've been very proactive and getting as much information as possible out there to those who have requested it.” Could you provide the evidence to back up this position?
Response
I will answer your questions in turn. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have, or cannot provide, the information you have requested. The reasons are explained below:
1. Please see attached spreadsheet which provides details of lost or stolen Scottish Government devices.
However, regarding your request ‘of what device and why it went missing/if it was found or what the outcome was’ 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 given the wide-ranging extent of your request. 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.
2. The guidance you have asked for is contained within the ‘Criteria for Decision Making’, agreed between the Scottish Government and Scottish Information Commissioner. This is publicly available through the following link:
Under section 25(1) of FOISA we do not have to provide you with information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If you are unable to access to obtain this information from the link provided, please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
In line with the guidance set out in the Criteria for Decision Making, and in order to ensure that we meet our statutory obligations, Scottish Ministers generally delegate responsibility for decision-making in FOI/EIR requests to officials of appropriate seniority. When an FOI/EIR requires a Ministerial Decision the case handler will send their draft to the appropriate Minister for a decision. In some circumstances, a request which has received a Senior Official Decision, and not a Ministerial Decision, may still to be sent to the Minister for awareness only. A decision is not required.
Therefore the figures I am providing are the figures of FOI/EIRs graded sensitive and therefore requiring a Ministerial Decision. Please note: Ministers may receive sight of other responses, for awareness or as a courtesy.
Between May 1st 2023 and April 30th 2024 we received 5450 requests. 405 of these were graded Sensitive and received a Ministerial Decision which is 7% of the total requests received for that annual period.
3. Former Channel Islands Data Protection Commissioner Emma Martins has accepted the appointment to lead a Review of Scottish Government use of mobile messaging apps and non-corporate technology. The aim of this externally-led Review is to recommend improvements to Scottish Government’s record management policy and practice as well as working practices in relation to modern digital workplaces. The Review is in the discovery phase and due to report by end June.
We welcome the opportunity the Scottish Information Commissioner’s intervention provides to re-examine our corporate approach. Documents were submitted to the Commissioner’s office on 29 February and we will continue to respond working to the timescales set by the Commissioner.
With regard to documents surround this, 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.
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. For example, you could specify the subject matter(s) of the documentation you are interested in as this would allow us to limit the searches that would require to be conducted. 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.
4. I have enclosed a copy of some of the information you requested. This is a copy of the media briefing note provided to the former Minister for Parliamentary Business to support his appearance on the BBC Radio Scotland Good Morning Scotland programme on 5 February. The briefing refers to the actions taken to improve the FOI practice and performance of the Scottish Government, and to the significant improvements in relation to meeting statutory timescales for response, made under the leadership of the former Minister, against a backdrop of rising request numbers.
Further information relevant to your request is available in the public domain. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. However, I have provided some useful links and comment below which I hope you will find helpful.
The Scottish Information Commissioner’s progress reports from May 2022 and October 2023 recognise the progress made in relation to FOI performance in recent years. These, together with the former Minister’s responses to each of the reports, are available on the Commissioner’s website at: Scottish Government intervention - practice and performance | Scottish Information Commissioner (itspublicknowledge.info).
The former Minister approved revised FOI Improvement Plans, following each of the Commissioner’s two most recent update report. These are available on the Scottish Government website at:
Freedom of information (FOI) improvement plan 2022-23 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
Freedom of information (FOI) Improvement Plan 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
We continue to progress the 2024 Improvement Plan. The Improvement Plan relates to various aspects of our FOI performance and practice – not only to timeliness. However, adherence to statutory timeframes remains a key measure. The Scottish Government publishes statistics on a monthly basis showing its performance against statutory FOI timescales: Freedom of Information (FOI) reporting - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). These show that at the time of the former Minister’s interview, the Scottish Government had met or exceeded the 95% target agreed with the Commissioner for each of the preceding eight months, representing a significant improvement on earlier periods. The Scottish Government considers that the progress achieved in this area is an important demonstration of the proactive approach taken to improvement.
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.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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