Scottish Council of Jewish Communities documentation which references Gaza and Israel: FOI release

Information requested

All documentation held by the Scottish Government, including internally, all briefings, all analysis, all minutes/notes from meetings, from/to or about the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, between May 1 2024 and August 30 2024, which reference Gaza and Israel.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested as six individual PDFs. A significant amount of information considered in this FOI response is out of the scope of your request so has been removed from the documents supplied which explains why there are blank pages. One document in scope is already publicly available at the following link: Meeting between Angus Robertson MSP and Israeli diplomat: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information because exemptions under section 28(1) - disclosure would prejudice substantially relations between administrations in the UK; section 30(b)(i) - free and frank provision of advice; section 30(c) - prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs; section 38 (1)(b) - personal information, of FOISA apply to some of the information you have requested.

An exemption under section 28(1) focuses on the harm to relations between UK administrations. An exemption under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to provide free and frank advice to Ministers before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view and may inhibit the provision of such advice in the future. An exemption under section 30(c) of FOISA recognises that disclosure would substantially prejudice, or be likely to substantially prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs and would prevent Scottish Ministers discussing sensitivities with external stakeholders.

Exemptions under section 28(1), section 30(b)(i) and section 30(c) are subject to the 'public interest test'. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government. 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 exemption for the advice as there is a greater public interest in protecting the process of providing advice and ensuring that the Scottish Government is able conduct this aspect effectively.

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FOI 202400438591 - Information released - Annex

File type

PDF

File size

856.2 kB