First Minister meeting with Deputy Prime Minister regarding the Winter Fuel Payment: FOI Review

Information requested

Orginal Request 202400426988

All meeting agendas, notes and information referencing the Winter Fuel Payment from the meeting held between First Minister John Swinney and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner on 15 August 2024 in Edinburgh.

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for All meeting agendas, notes and information referencing the Winter Fuel Payment from the meeting held between First Minister John Swinney and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner on 15 August 2024 in Edinburgh.

I have concluded that the original decision should be confirmed, with modifications.

I have reviewed the searches and consider that a broader interpretation of what information falls within scope could be applied. I have also reviewed the application of the exemptions and in some cases consider that some information was incorrectly withheld under sections 28(1)(relations within the UK) and 30(b)(ii)(free and frank exchange of views). In addition some information that was withheld under section 30(b)(ii) contained personal information which has now been correctly identified and some of which has now been withheld under section 38(1)(b)(personal information) of FoI(S)A. Please accept my apology for this oversight.

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 28(1)(relations within the UK), 30(c) (conduct of public affairs) and 38(1)(b)(personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why those exemptions apply are explained below.

An exemption under section 28(i) applies to a small amount of the information you have requested (in documents 3 and 4) where disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially relations between administrations in the UK.

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 strong public interest in the relationship between the Scottish and UK Governments and therefore there is a public interest in disclosing this information as part of an open, transparent and accountable government. However, there is a greater public interest in a strong and effective relationship between governments, particularly in light of the Scottish and UK Governments’ desire to reset the relationship and work constructively together. This means that Ministers and officials from both governments need to be able to engage in a private space to build a trusting and effective relationship. Their candour in doing so, which will impact on the achievability of addressing shared ambitions and challenges, will be affected by their assessment of whether their discussions will be disclosed. The UK Government’s trust in the Scottish Government’s commitment to working constructively on areas of common ground will be substantially damaged by the Scottish Government releasing information that was assumed to be conducted in a private space.

An exemption under section 30(c) (Prejudice to the Effective Conduct of Public Affairs) applies to some of the information you have requested. This exemption applies because releasing early drafts of Scottish Government press releases, which do not reflect discussions that took place and/or decisions taken, would result in inaccurate information of ministerial meetings and/or views, thereby undermining the Scottish Government’s ability to effectively and accurately engage and communicate with the public. This in turn would be likely to impair the Government’s ability to work collaboratively on areas of shared ambition and shared responsibility with the UK Government and would constitute substantial prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. 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 enabling the Scottish Government to effectively and accurately engage and communicate with the public on its meetings with the UK Government without the risk of these communications being prejudiced by inaccurate information, and being released while the Scottish Government’s is continuing to seek to work constructively with the UK Government.

The exemption under section 38.1(b) has been reconsidered and found to have been incorrectly applied to some of the information requested. The exemption however does apply to some of the additional information considered to be in scope as part of this review. This exemption is in relation to personal information of a third party, i.e. names and 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', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202400431924 - Information Released - Annex

File type

15 page PDF

File size

2.4 MB