Costs and documentation for the First Minister's speech at Barclays campus: FOI release

Information requested

1. Could you supply the updated special adviser register of interests?

2. How much has been spent on paying off/severance payments for special advisers, in each of the last three years, with a breakdown by year and by how much each special adviser got?

3. Could you supply the full costs of putting on John Swinney's event/speech at Barclays campus on May 17, with a full breakdown of these costs?

4. Could you supply all documentation held about this speech, including setting up emails, correspondence, analysis and reviews of it, from between May 1 2024 and June 15 2024?

This response refers to points 3 and 4 of your request. A response in reference to points 1 and 2 has been sent separately.

Response

In response to part 3 of your request, I can confirm that there were no costs associated with the setting up of the Barclays event/speech, as Barclays provided their premises free of charge. There is no documentary evidence to confirm this as the cost was not discussed at any point.

On 18 June 2024 we responded to a similar request you made covering the period from 1 May 2024 to 20 May 2024. This can be found on the Scottish Government website: Correspondence relating to economic speeches, Barclays bank , financial strategy and Independence: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

For your previous request the period covered is 1 May 2024 to 20 May 2024. For part 4 of your request, the period of the request is marginally longer, 1 May 2024 to 15 June 2024. However, I can confirm there is no additional documentation that was not provided in the earlier response.

For this reason, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, under section 14(2) of FOISA a public authority is not required to comply with a request for information if it is identical or substantially similar to a request which it has already complied with, unless a reasonable amount of time has elapsed between the two requests. This request is substantially similar to your previous request which we complied with on 18 June 2024. The Scottish Information Commissioner's guidance on repeated requests at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/Law/FOISA-EIRsGuidance/Section14/Section14Overview.aspx says that in considering whether a reasonable period of time has elapsed between the previous request and the new request, there are two questions which will help the authority:

(i) has the information changed?
(ii) have the circumstances changed?

In this case, the information we hold is the same as at the time of your previous request, while the date period you have requested is different from your original request, there is no further information to disclose. We have also considered the circumstances and have concluded that there has been no significant change. For these reasons, we consider that your request is repeated and we are not obliged to comply with it.

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.