Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture meeting with Deputy Israeli Ambassador: FOI release

Information requested

The following in relation to the recent meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and the Deputy Ambassador for Israel to the UK:

• The full minutes of the meeting.
• Which Ministers and/or members of the Cabinet were aware of or agreed that this event should be kept secret from the public till after the event?
• Will Scottish Government funding for arts/culture be limited or denied if if they are critical of state of Israel's complicity in genocide?
• Who set the agenda for the meeting and what did it include?
• Who made the initial request for the meeting?

Response

For your first and fourth requests an exemption under section 32(1)(a) of FOISA applies to the information you have requested. This exemption applies to any information that may cause substantial prejudice to international relations between the UK and any other state.

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 of the subject matter as well as the interest in open and transparent government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in the Scottish and UK Governments being able to maintain good and honest relations with states they choose to engage with. For your second request, I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested attached to this email in Annex A.

An exemption under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested.

This exemption applies to email conversations where members of the Scottish Government provide free and frank advice.

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 of the subject matter as well as the interest in open and transparent government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in government officials having the space to provide impartial advice.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested.

This exemption applies to personal data belonging to a third party. This includes names of civil servants as well as correspondence from third parties.

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.

For your third request, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This is a formal notice under Section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

While we don't hold information on the third request, you may wish to write to the Cabinet Secretary directly at CabSecCEAC@gov.scot to ask for their views on this subject.

For your final request, the answer to your question is the Israeli Deputy Ambassador requested a meeting as the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture outlined in his statement on 19 August - Meeting with Israeli Diplomat - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). This request was accepted by the Cabinet Secretary following official advice.

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 202400427043 - Information Released - Annex

File type

3 page PDF

File size

242.2 kB