Correspondence between Scottish Government and Scottish Fiscal Commission regarding August Fiscal Update: FOI Review

Information requested

Original request: 202400430333

Provide all correspondence between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Fiscal Commission regarding its August Fiscal Update, which was published on August 27.

Please include the content of all electronic communications and any requests for changes or corrections that were made to the update prior to publication.

Response

Further to my letter of 17 October, I have now completed my review of your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for Review of 202400430333: Correspondence between SG and Scottish Fiscal Commission re August Fiscal Update published 27/08/24. 

I have concluded that while the exemptions applied in relation to your original request were broadly correct, that they should not have been applied to the related documents in their entirety and that there is a public interest in releasing the documents in redacted form. I therefore attach the relevant documents captured by your original request with the necessary redactions applied.

Exemptions under section 30 b (ii) of FOISA (free and frank exchange of advice and views for the purposes of deliberation) This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. Disclosing the content of free and frank discussions will substantially inhibit such discussions in the future. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, I have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. I have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, but not, as was the case with your original request, to the documents in their entirety. I recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing part of the information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing a private space within which officials can exchange views which is why some redactions have been applied.

Section 17(1) – Notice that information is not held applies to some of the information requested – I identified links embedded in the correspondence that were links to documents not held by Scottish Government, but that are held by the Scottish Fiscal Commission. You may wish to consider submitting  a request to the Scottish Fiscal Commission (www.fiscalcommission.scot) for documents within the scope of your original request.

Section 38(1)(b) – Personal Data An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and contact details, 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. 

Section 30(c) - would otherwise prejudice substantially, or be likely to prejudice substantially, the effective conduct of public affairs applies to some of the information requested because it included draft versions of documents which had not been fact checked. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, I have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. I have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption as the public interest is found in the final published version of documents and there would likely be prejudice to the effective running of public affairs if drafts of documents  required to be released before completion.

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FOI - 202400435434 - Information released - Annex A

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