Sale of Prestwick Airport: FOI release

Information requested

1) Please provide a copy of all the business-facing or public-facing documentation that the Scottish Government has used to advertise the sale of Prestwick Airport. For example, please provide a copy of any brochures or adverts placed.

2) Please provide a copy of all the documentation that the Scottish Government has made available to companies that are subsequently considered (a) credible expressions of interest or (b) a preferred bidder for Prestwick Airport.

3) Please confirm how much the Scottish Government has spent to date advertising the sale of Prestwick Airport, broken down by the type of cost, and details of how the sale has been advertised.

4) Please provide a breakdown of professional and legal fees in relation to the sale of Prestwick Airport, including (a) the names of the companies, (b) the date of payments and (c) the reason for the payments (a description of the work carried out).

Response

Part 1 – Please provide a copy of all the business-facing or public-facing documentation that the Scottish Government has used to advertise the sale of Prestwick Airport. For example, please provide a copy of any brochures or adverts placed. 

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any public advertising regarding the sale of Prestwick Airport. In 2021, the opportunity was promoted through a press release and notices being published on the Official Journal of the European Union and Public Contracts Scotland. This did not incur a cost.

While there has been no public advertising, an information pack containing sensitive commercial confidential belonging to the airport has been prepared and made available to those commercial parties that have (a) expressed an interest in acquiring the airport, (b) satisfied certain pre-qualification criteria and (c) agreed to protect the information being shared.

The information pack made available to parties with an interest in acquiring GPA contains commercially confidential material and an exception under section 30(c) (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs) of FOISA applies to it. Disclosure of the information requested at this time (i.e. while a sale process is underway) could have a material impact on the Scottish Government’s ability to conduct an effective sale process.

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 there is considerable public interest in the future of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that commercial confidentiality during a live sale process is maintained.

Part 2 – Please provide a copy of all the documentation that the Scottish Government has made available to companies that are subsequently considered (a) credible expressions of interest or (b) a preferred bidder for Prestwick Airport. 

The information pack made available to parties with an interest in acquiring GPA contains commercially confidential material and an exception under section 30(c) (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs) of FOISA applies to it. Disclosure of the information requested at this time (i.e. while a sale process is underway) could have a material impact on the Scottish Government’s ability to conduct an effective sale process.

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 there is considerable public interest in the future of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that commercial confidentiality during a live sale process is maintained.

Part 3 – Please confirm how much the Scottish Government has spent to date advertising the sale of Prestwick Airport, broken down by the type of cost, and details of how the sale has been advertised. 

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any public advertising regarding the sale of Prestwick Airport.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some the information you have requested. There is no specific breakdown available of the cost of issuing materials to those commercial parties that have expressed an interest in acquiring the airport.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

Part 4 – Please provide a breakdown of professional and legal fees in relation to the sale of Prestwick Airport, including (a) the names of the companies, (b) the date of payments and (c) the reason for the payments (a description of the work carried out). 

An annex is attached detailing all expenditure on commercial advice relevant to a potential sale of Glasgow Prestwick Airport.

An exemption under 30(c) (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs) applies to some of theinform ation provided in the annex because the Scottish Ministerial Code stipulates that the source of legal advice to Scottish Ministers should not be disclosed.

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 part of open and transparent government, and to inform public debate. However, this is outweighed by the strong public interest in maintaining the right to confidentiality of communications between legal advisers and clients, to ensure that Ministers and officials are able to receive legal advice in confidence, like any other public or private organisation.

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 202400423996 - Information released - Annex

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