Melville Monument, Dargavel Primary School, Celtic title and cup celebrations and D-Day events: FOI release

Information requested

1. All documentation held by the Government, including correspondence, briefings, minutes/notes from meetings and internal correspondence, about/mentioning the Melville Monument in Edinburgh, from the last six months.

2. All documentation held by the Government, including correspondence, briefings, minutes/notes from meetings and internal correspondence, about Dargavel Primary School, from the last six months.

3. All documentation held by the Government, including correspondence, briefings, minutes/notes from meetings and internal correspondence, about the Celtic title and cup celebrations in Glasgow, from the last three months.

4. All documentation held by the Government, including correspondence, briefings, minutes/notes from meetings and internal correspondence, about John Swinney's D-Day events, from the last three months.

To note, we have interpreted question 4 to mean all documentation dated after Wednesday 8 May when John Swinney took office as First Minister. Where correspondence is dated before 8 May but may provide helpful context to related correspondence dated on or after 8 May, this has been included.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections 38(1)(b) (personal information) and 39(1) (health and safety) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why those exemptions apply are explained below.

Section 38(1)(b) has been applied to some information 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’, therefore 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 39(1) of FOISA (health and safety) applies to some of the information requested because disclosure would, or would be likely to, endanger the physical or mental health or safety of an individual. 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 a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent, and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in in protecting the safety of individuals. The information that this exemption applies to relates to the security and travel arrangements of the First Minister. To ensure the safety of the First Minister this information is not disclosed to the public.

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.