Correspondence relating to economic speeches, Barclays bank , financial strategy and Independence: FOI release

Information requested

1. Could you supply all correspondence sent and received by the Scottish Government, all briefings held, all minutes/notes from meetings, surrounding the planned major economic speeches outlined by the Scottish Government on January 6 which Humza Yousaf was going to do, between April 1 and the date of this FOI?

-What is the current plan for these speeches?

2. Could you supply all correspondence sent and received by the Scottish Government, all briefings held, all minutes/notes from meetings, about John Swinney's speech at Barclays bank on 17 May, between May 1 and the date of this FOI?

3. Could you supply all correspondence sent and received by the Scottish Government, all briefings held, all minutes/notes from meetings, about the decision to pause the medium term financial strategy being paused?

4. In media interviews, John Swinney suggested that Scotland will be independent in five years and said: "The cost of living crisis today is a product of sky-high inflation inflicted on us by the mismanagement of the economy by a UK Tory government.

"It's a product of the madness of the Liz Truss budget which has increased the cost of living." He later claimed it was a consequence of Brexit and "if Scotland was independent we wouldn't need to face these things".
-Could you supply the evidence to back these statements up?

Response

Question 1:
A number of staff across a range of different business areas of the Scottish Government have contributed to work on planned future speeches, as outlined by the former First Minister in his speech on 8 January 2024. Due to this, and the very broad scope of your request, it would not be possible to locate, retrieve and provide every single piece of information held by the Scottish Government about this work within the upper cost limit of £600.

In the interest of providing information whenever possible, we have conducted what we consider to be the most proportionate searches that can be done within the upper cost limit. As a result, we have limited the search to information held by the member of staff who was leading with drafting and co-ordinating work on future speeches, and was engaging with colleagues across the organisation in connection with them.

With this narrowing of scope, some of the information you have requested is enclosed in Annex A of this letter. Exemptions under Sections 30(b)(i), 30(b)(ii), 30(c) and 38(1)(b) of FOISA apply to some of the information requested. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in Annex B of this letter.

At 20 May 2024, no final decision had been taken on the delivery of the speeches to which you refer.

Question 2:
The information you have requested is enclosed in both Annex C, and separately with this letter. Exemptions under Sections 33(1)(b) and 38(1)(b) of FOISA apply to some of the information requested. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in Annex D of this letter.

Question 3:
I enclose copies of some of the information you requested in Annex E of this letter.

The Medium-Term Financial Strategy was postponed after Humza Yousaf MSP resigned as First Minister on 29 April 2024.

The Parliament was informed of the postponement on 7 May by a Government Initiated Question (GIQ). This can be found below: 

Written question and answer: S6W-27336 | Scottish Parliament Website

The postponement was communicated to the Finance and Public Administration Committee by letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government. A copy of this letter can be found here: 

Publication of the seventh Medium Term Financial Strategy | Scottish Parliament Website

The Scottish Fiscal Commission was also notified of the postponement by letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government.

A copy of this letter can be found here:

Letter-from-Deputy-First-Minister-to-Professor-Graeme-Roy-about-the-MTFS-publication-date-7-May-2024.pdf (fiscalcommission.scot)

This is a formal notice that some of the information you have requested is available online, as detailed above. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance exemptions under Sections 29(1)(a), 30(b)(i),30(b)(ii) and 38(1)(b) of FOISA apply to some of the information you have requested. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in Annex F of this letter.

Question 4:
Scottish Government civil servants do not prepare information in connection with opinions expressed by Ministers about their political opponents in media interviews, such as the ones you have quoted, and the Civil Service Code clearly states that Scottish Government resources must not be used for party political purposes. You may wish to consider addressing your query to the Scottish National Party headquarters directly however, you will want to be aware that political parties are not subject to Freedom of Information legislation. This is a formal notice under S.17(1) that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

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 202400414539 - Information Released - Attachment

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