James Hamilton QC's correspondence and meetings: FOI release

Information requested

1. Which parliamentary question John Swinney cleared an answer for that was sent by a member of the secretariat working for James Hamilton. Please state which parliamentary question this was, provide the original draft of the question answer that was sent to John Swinney and any comments, suggested changes or feedback on the draft answer before the final answer was approved.

2. Which freedom of information responses John Swinney cleared answers for that were sent by a member of the secretariat working for James Hamilton. Please provide the final freedom of information responses, the original drafts of these responses that were sent to John Swinney and any comments, suggested changes or feedback on the draft responses before the final responses were approved.

3. The full ‘FMQ notes’ that were drafted by the secretariat supporting James Hamilton’s work as set out in the documentation published by the Scottish Government on 26 October 2024 (see page 68).

4. The full minute from James Hynd dated 18 August 2020 setting out the arrangements for the secretariat supporting James Hamilton’s work.

5. The minutes of John Swinney’s meeting with James Hamilton ‘some days after’ 22 March 2021. Please list the attendees of this meeting, the minutes of it and any actions taken by the Scottish Government as a result of it.

Response

In response to your first question, the answer to your question is parliamentary questions S5W- 32469, S5W-32470, S5W-32471 and S5W-32472. I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested.

An exemption under section s.38(1)(b) (third party personal data) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. The reasons why this exemption applies are set out in the Annex to this letter.

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.

In response to your second question, the answer is FOI 202100139181.

Some of the information you have requested is available from James Hamilton QC investigation remit correspondence: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested.

An exemption under section s.38(1)(b) (third party personal data) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. The reasons why this exemption applies are set out in the Annex to this letter.

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.

In response to your third question, I enclose a copy of the information you requested.

In response to your fourth question, I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested.

An exemption under section s.38(1)(b) (third party personal data) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. The reasons why this exemption applies are set out in the Annex to this letter.

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.

In response to your fifth question, I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested.

An exemption under section s.38(1)(b) (third party personal data) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. The reasons why this exemption applies are set out in the Annex to this letter.

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 202400438445 - Information released - Annex

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FOI 202400438445 - Information released - Documents

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