Covid Business Resilience and Support Directorate (COBRAS) spend: FOI release

Information requested

I refer to your correspondence of 3 June 2024 under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) requesting the following information:

On 7th June 2022, Kate Forbes sent the following tweet:

https://x.com/_KateForbes/status/1534077184868077568

Response

I have addressed your questions in turn.

"Can you provide an explanation of why the payments were so labelled?"

I am interpreting this question as asking why certain payments published on the Scottish Government’s website detailing spend over £25,000 included a reference to the Covid Business Resilience and Support Directorate (COBRAS).

Whenever a payment is made by any Directorate of the Scottish Government, the accounts ledgers will detail the following information: Financial year, Payee details, Transaction detail, Directorate name, Amount paid and Date paid.

At the time of the payments referenced, the sponsorship division for Ferguson Marine sat within the COBRAS Directorate.

"And how it would have been possible to determine, from publicly available information, that the payments were not in fact Covid monies?"

I am interpreting this question as asking how someone looking at certain payments published on the Scottish Government’s website detailing spend over £25,000 would know that they were not payments related to any Covid relief.

Whilst a description was provided for what the payments were for those descriptions do not contain anything suggesting the payments related to Covid.

If anyone is unclear about the meaning of the descriptors used in the Scottish Government’s accounts clarifications can be provided via the Central Enquiries Unit on 0300 244 4000 or email ceu@gov.scot or via the dedicated channels that exist for media enquiries https://www.gov.scot/about/contact-information/media-enquiries/.

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