Euro Fund irregularities, wage rises for Civil Servants and VisitScotland correspondence: FOI release

Information requested

1. How much money has the Scottish Government lost over Euro Fund irregularities? Could you break this down by year and why the money was lost?
-As shown here: https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23947210.scotgov-loses-50m-public-moneyeuro-fund-irregularities/

2. How much is the Scottish Government set to spend on wage rises for civil servants working within the government this financial year, with a breakdown of costs?
-Could you also supply how much the Government spent on wage rises for civil servants in the last five years, with a breakdown?

3. Could you supply all correspondence sent and received by the Scottish Government, including internally, from councils about funding issues and pleas, from the last three months?
-Could you also supply any analysis and briefings written about this topic in the same time frame?

4. . Could you supply all correspondence sent and received by the Government, including internally, all briefings, analysis and minutes/notes from meetings, about the search for a new VisitScotland Chief executive, between January 1 2024 and date of this FOI?

5. Could you supply all correspondence sent and received by the Government, including internally, all briefings, analysis and minutes/notes from meetings, about VisitScotland axing all visitor centres, from the last six months?

6. Could you supply all correspondence sent and received by the Government, including internally, all briefings, analysis and minutes/notes from meetings, about Visitscotland scrapping its quality assurance scheme?
-https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/lifestyle/6429101/visitscotland-scrap-quality-assurance-scheme/

Response

1. Over the course of the 2014-2020 programme irregularities have occurred for various reasons. The final amounts for each year will not be known before the second half of 2025 at the earliest.

2. We have split your question into two parts:

2a. How much is the Scottish Government set to spend on wage rises for civil servants working within the government this financial year, with a breakdown of costs?

2b. Could you also supply how much the government spent on wage rises for civil servants in the last five years, with a breakdown?

We have interpreted your request as relating to core Scottish Government, in line with the structuring of our consolidated accounts. We have interpreted ‘wage rises’ as the increase each year in staffing costs, which are made up of wages/ salaries, national insurance employer contribution costs, and employers’ pension contribution costs.

2a. We are providing the information on a financial year basis which is consistent with our annual accounts publications. The total staffing costs and percentage increase for 2023-2024 and 2024-25 are therefore not available yet but is usually published in November/December each year. Therefore, this is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the data you have requested.

2b. Staffing cost figures are included in the annual consolidated accounts, the scope of which cover Scottish Government as well as several other public bodies. The consolidated reports and accounts for the years requested can be found here: Financial reports and accounts - Government finance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Attached in Annex A is supplementary information relating to SG Core and staffing cost increases specifically. Please note, only part of the percentage increases to staffing costs can be attributed to pay awards, as other factors such as changes in headcount and staff movement can impact on these costs. Pay metrics for Scottish Government staff can be found here Public sector pay - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and Senior Civil Service pay guidance can be found on the Cabinet Office publication pages.

We have also included the Scottish Government Core directly employed headcount for the relevant period, to demonstrate how the headcount has changed over time.

3. 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 estimated cost of providing a response to this request, after carrying out searches on Scottish Government databases is £37,380. 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 could narrow the scope of your request by being more specific about the information in which you require. 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: https://www.itspublicknowledge.info/how-do-i-ask.

4. I enclose a copy of all the information you requested.

5. I enclose a copy of all the information you requested.

6. I enclose a copy of all the information you requested.

Exemptions under sections 30(b)(ii), 33(1)(b), 36(1) and 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested.

Section 30(b)(ii) - information that would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation.

This exemption is 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 as disclosing would enhance public scrutiny of our decision-making or policy-making processes. This is outweighed by the public interest to uphold the exemption as paragraph 2.1 of the Scottish Ministerial Code provides that “the privacy of opinions expressed and advice offered within the Government should be maintained” at all times.

Section 33(1)(b) - information that would (or would be likely to) prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person or organisation

This exemption is 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 it involves the expenditure of public funds. However, this is outweighed by the public interest as releasing this information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of a public body – specifically creating a disadvantage in future tendering exercises and other procurement.

Section 36(1) - information in respect of which a claim to confidentiality of communications could be maintained in legal proceedings.

Section 38(1)(b) - Personal data of third parties e.g. names, email addresses and phone numbers.

These exemptions are 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.

Due to the size of the files we are unable to upload the documents referred to above.

If you wish to consider, please contact us at the address below and we will be happy to provide.

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.