Proposed friendship arrangement with the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung: FOI release

Information requested

All electronic and paper records the Scottish Government holds regarding the proposed friendship arrangement with the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung that was due to be considered at a full council meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council on 26 June 2024, before being withdrawn from the full council meeting agenda.

The disclosure should include, but not be limited to, internal and external correspondence sent and received regarding the issue, including any attachments, documents or appendices, as well as reports and advice given to or prepared by the government with regard to the proposed arrangement. It should also include, but not be limited to, any minutes, briefings, summaries, and associated documents relating to the meeting that took place between the external affairs secretary and the Chinese consul general on 12 June 2024.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. You can find this attached in Annex A.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b), personal information, of FOISA applies to some of the information you requested because it is personal data of a third party (i.e. names/contact details of individuals), and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is 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.

An exemption under section 30(b)(i), free and frank provision of advice, of FOISA applies to some of the information that you requested. The reason section 30(b) applies to the information requested is because disclosure of information would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice.

An exemption under section 32(1)(a), international relations, of FOISA applies to some of the information you requested. Information is exempt from disclosure if disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially relations between the UK and another state.

An exemption under section 33(1)(b), commercial interests, of FOISA applies to some of the information you requested. The reason section 33(1)(b) applies to the information requested is that its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person. “Person” includes a public authority, company and partnership.

These exemptions are 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 exemptions.

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 202400420617 - Information released - Annex A

File type

12 page PDF

File size

378.3 kB