Correspondence regarding Fuel Insecurity Fund: FOI Review

Information requested

Original Request: 202400438778

Who specifically in the Scottish Government took the decision to cut the fuel insecurity fund in 2023.

Specifically, who put the proposal forward to cut the fund and then who had to agree to it.

The date and time when this decision was taken.

A copy of the correspondence (in letter, emails or minuted meeting) which reveals the rationale for the decision to scrap the fuel insecurity fund.

Response

We have now completed our review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for:

Who specifically in the Scottish Government took the decision to cut the fuel insecurity fund in 2023.

Specifically, who put the proposal forward to cut the fund and then who had to agree to it.

The date and time when this decision was taken.

A copy of the correspondence (in letter, emails or minuted meeting) which reveals the rationale for the decision to scrap the fuel insecurity fund.

We have concluded that the original decision should be confirmed, with modifications. We have noted your comments that:

“I asked for who put the proposal forward to cut the fuel insecurity fund and then who had to agree to it.

I also asked for the date and time when this decision was taken.

Those requests do not appear to have been addressed in your response.

Instead you’ve provided nothing and said its because of the free and frank exchange of views exemption.

Is that an error or a deliberate application of the exemption?

Who took a decision and when they took it isn’t a view or an opinion, it’s a fact.”

We have concluded that our response did not adequately address this request for factual information, and we have now provided a response to this element of your question below. Please accept our apologies for this oversight in our original response.

The matter of the Fuel Insecurity Fund as part of the 2024-2025 budget was initially considered in advice sent to Ministers in July 2023 and the advice note contained the following passage:

“Fuel Insecurity Fund – This temporary fund was historically funded by one-off consequential budget, and latterly by one-off funding found within SG this year.”

The remainder of the content of this advice note is not provided as this is either outside the scope of your request, or an exemption under section 30(b)(i) (free and frank provision of advice) of FOISA applies to that information. Ultimately, Portfolio Cabinet Secretaries determine how to spend the portfolio budget that they receive. Draft Scottish Budget is presented to Parliament, and is then scrutinised by MSPs through the Budget Bill process.

In relation to your request for “the date and time when this decision was taken”, this is a formal notice under 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested.

As part of our review, we have also reviewed the original casefile with regards to your request for “a copy of the correspondence (in letter, emails or minuted meeting) which reveals the rationale for the decision to scrap the fuel insecurity fund” alongside the exemptions that were applied.

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 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) of FOISA (free and frank exchange of views) applies to some of the information requested. 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. This exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to discuss issues and options with external stakeholders before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. Disclosing the content of these discussions will substantially inhibit such discussions in the future, because these stakeholders will be reluctant to provide their views fully and frankly if they believe that those views are likely to be made public, particularly while these discussions relate to a sensitive or controversial issue such as deliberations on the Scottish Government budget.

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. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing Ministers and officials a private space within which to communicate with appropriate external stakeholders as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government’s position on forthcoming budgets until the Government as a whole can adopt a decision that is sound and likely to be effective. This private space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, so that good decisions can be taken based on fully informed advice and evidence. Premature disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between the Scottish Government and these stakeholders, which in turn will undermine the quality of the decision making process, which would not be in the public interest. There is also an important public interest in avoiding the loss of stakeholder confidence in cases where they thought they were providing comments in confidence, which would be inevitable if an individual’s contribution was released against their wishes.

An exemption under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA (free and frank provision of advice) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to provide free and frank advice to Ministers and other officials before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. Disclosing the content of free and frank advice on decisions around the Scottish Government budget will substantially inhibit the provision of such advice in the future, particularly because these discussions relate to a sensitive or controversial issue, such deliberations on the Scottish Government budget.

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. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing 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 provide full and frank advice to Ministers and other officials as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government’s position on budget decisions until the Government as a whole can adopt a position that is sound and likely to be effective. This private thinking space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, based on the best available advice, so that good budgetary decisions can be taken. Premature disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between Ministers and officials, which in turn will undermine the quality of the budget making process, which would not be in the public interest.

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.