Publication - FOI/EIR release

United Nations Human Rights Council participation, and Household and Social Attitude Surveys: FOI release

Published: 21 November 2024
Directorate: Tackling Child Poverty and Social Justice Directorate
Topic: Children and families, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202400436380
Date received: 15 October 2024
Date responded: 8 November 2024

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Information requested

1. How much has it cost the Scottish Government to undergo the Universal periodic review for UN human rights and a breakdown of these costs?

2. Did the Scottish Government attend the in-person interactive dialogue session in Geneva on November 10 2022 about this topic, and if so could you supply all minutes taken and full cost of this trip, with a full breakdown?

3. Could you supply all documentation held about the Scottish Household Survey and the removal of questions from it, including email correspondence, including internal, minutes/notes from meetings, briefings, analysis, between March 1 2024 and June 1 2024?

4. What other questions have been removed from the survey since it was created and why?

5. Could you supply all documentation held about the Scottish social attitude survey 2023, including email correspondence, including internal, minutes/notes from meetings, briefings, analysis, between July 1 2024 and October 1 2024?

Response

1. How much has it cost the Scottish Government to undergo the Universal periodic review for UN human rights and a breakdown of these costs?

The Scottish Government participates in the UPR reporting cycle via the United Kingdom (UK) as State Party. Therefore, travel and accommodation costs were borne by the UK Government. Subsistence costs incurred by the Scottish Government are detailed below.

A Scottish Government official participated in the UPR Interactive Dialogue at the United Nations Human Rights Council in November 2022. The Scottish Government incurred a total of £80.73 subsistence costs for the official who attended as detailed below:

Expense type	Amount
Foreign travel - subsistence	£27.66
Non standard subsistence	£7.75
Ad hoc	£3.35
Public transport rail standard	£25.09
Foreign travel other expenses	£16.88
Total	£80.73

Travel and accommodation expenses were borne by the UK Government as State Party to the UPR, and we do not hold this information.

The Scottish Government does not hold a detailed minute of the Interactive Dialogue, but I enclose a copy of high-level insights that followed. You can find this attached in Annex A. As the State Party to the UPR, the UK Government may have produced a full minute of the engagement.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested. An exemption under section 38(1)(b), personal information, of FOISA applies to some of the information you requested because it is personal data of a third party (i.e. names/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.

An exemption under section 30(b)(ii), free and frank exchange of views, of FOISA applies to some of the information that you requested. The reason section 30(b) applies to the information requested is because disclosure of information would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice.

An exemption under section 29(1)(a), formulation of government policy, of FOISA applies to some of the information that you requested. The reason section 29(1)(a) applies to the information requested is because the information relates to the formulation and development of government policy.

These exemptions are 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 exemptions. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemptions.

You might also want to refer to the following publications:

For any further information on the UPR, you may send a Freedom of Information request to the Ministry of Justice (lead department for UPR) at data.access@justice.gov.uk.

See Annex B.

4. What other questions have been removed from the survey since it was created and why?

The annual SHS questionnaires, and details of questionnaire reviews, are available from the Scottish Government website.

Questionnaires

The 2023 questionnaire will be published by 19 November 2024, along with the 2023 methodology and fieldwork outcomes report, in advance of the first results from the 2023 survey being published.
Scottish Household Survey questionnaire 2022
Scottish Household Survey questionnaire 2021
Scottish Household Survey questionnaire 2020
Scottish Household Survey questionnaires from 2003 to 2019

Questionnaire reviews

The Scottish Government aims to provide information whenever possible, however in this instance the cost of locating, retrieving, and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. Under section 12 of FOISA, public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by regulations made under section 12. Given the breadth of your request a key word search returned a high number of documents and emails which could potentially be in scope of the request and responding to this request would therefore lead to a cost in excess of £600.

You may wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the cost can be brought below £600. This might be done for example, by narrowing the request to one type of output, or reducing the timeframe of the request. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs'.

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 202400436380 - Information Released - Annex

File type: PDF
File size: 251.4 kB

Contact

Please quote the FOI reference
Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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