Attendance of Scottish Government Officials at HMS Formidable Steel Cutting Ceremony: FOI release

Information requested

1. Specifically, were any Scottish Government officials invited to attend the recent steel cutting ceremony for the new frigate HMS Formidable at Rosyth? If any officials were invited and declined to attend, could you provide the reasons for their refusal?

2. If any refusals occurred - copies of any emails or correspondence relating to these decisions, specifically communications between Scottish Government officials regarding the refusal to attend

Response

1. The First Minister and the Deputy First Minister were invited to attend the HMS Formidable steel cutting ceremony. However, due to staff illness, there was a delay in processing the invitations, which unfortunately resulted in no Scottish Government representation at the event.

2. Scottish Ministers did not refuse to attend and subsequently no communications of the nature specified in your request were generated. I have, however, attached a copy of internal communication regarding the processing of the invitation and an email exchange between Scottish Government Officials and Babcock with regard to Scottish Government non-attendance (Supporting Document 1) that you might find helpful.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested under the following exemptions of FOISA and FOIA that apply to sections of the information:

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested as it is personal data of a third party 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 33(1)(b) of FOISA (commercial interests) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of the companies mentioned. Disclosing this information would reveal confidential information regarding those companies. 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.

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FOI 202400437077 - Information Released - Supporting Document 1

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