Scottish Child Payment and the labour market report: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Information requested
Information regarding the Scottish Child Payment and the labour market report, published by the Scottish Government on July 24 2024.
- Who was responsible for the preparation of this report? If not at senior level please provide directorate/grade.
- Confirm whether this report required to be reviewed by Ministers and/or Special Advisors for sign off before publication. If so, who was responsible for review and sign off?
- A copy of the draft of the report which was first submitted for sign off/approval and the date on which this was sent.
- Any correspondence regarding possible/requested changes to the report and discussion of these, and records of any meetings/calls at which this was discussed.
- Any correspondence related discussion over whether, how and when this report should be published (i.e discussions over timing, whether there would be a press release about the report, etc).
Response
I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested below and in the attached documents. In this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested because the information you have asked for does not exist.
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 an exemption under section s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to personal data within correspondence, the disclosure of which would contravene data protection principles.
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.
1) Who was responsible for the preparation of this report? If not at senior level please provide directorate/grade.
A C1 economic adviser in the Communities Analysis Division of the Directorate for Tackling Child Poverty and Social Justice was responsible for the preparation of this report.
2) Confirm whether this report required to be reviewed by Ministers and/or Special Advisors for sign off before publication. If so, who was responsible for review and sign off?
In line with standard internal processes to quality assure analysis and publication content this report was reviewed by Scottish Government officials including at Deputy Director level. A final draft copy was sent to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and Special Advisors on June 18th and requested the Cabinet Secretary’s agreement to publish the report. This agreement was received on June 26th and no changes were made to the report as a result of this exchange.
3) A copy of the draft of the report which was first submitted for sign off/approval and the date on which this was sent.
A copy of the draft of the report sent to the Cabinet Secretary on June 18th is attached as a separate pdf document titled Annex A.
4) Any correspondence regarding possible/requested changes to the report and discussion of these, and records of any meetings/calls at which this was discussed.
A copy of correspondence regarding possible/requested changes to the report and discussion of these is attached as a separate pdf document titled Annex B, see email chains 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. No records are held of any meetings/calls where possible/requested changes to the report were discussed.
5) Any correspondence related discussion over whether, how and when this report should be published (i.e discussions over timing, whether there would be a press release about the report, etc).
A copy of correspondence related discussion over whether, how and when this report should be published is attached as a separate pdf document titled Annex B, see email chains 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, and 9.
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.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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