Funding for River Garden Auchincruive from the Residential Rehabilitation Rapid Capacity Programme: FOI release

Information requested

1. Please provide the full audit trail from April 2024 until January 2025 regarding the funding of River Garden Auchincruive from the Scottish Government Residential Rehabilitation Rapid Capacity Programme.

2. Please can you provide paperwork regarding reporting since my last FOI request.

3. Please can you provide correspondence from the Drug and Alcohol Ministers and in the case of Elena Whitman, Jennie Minto and correspondence with the First Minister John Swinney.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested, in the format you asked for.

In response to question 1 and 2 of your request, all of the audit trail regarding the funding for River Garden from the Residential Rehabilitation Rapid Capacity Programme can be found in Annex A. An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, ie names and 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 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 River Garden.

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 and transparent government, and to help account for the expenditure of public money. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies which enter into, Scottish Government contracts, to ensure that we are always able to obtain the best value for public money.

In response to question 3 of your request, all correspondence from the Drug and Alcohol Ministers and in the case of Elena Whitman, Jennie Minto and correspondence with the First Minister John Swinney can be found in Annex B. An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, ie names and 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 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 River Garden.

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 and transparent government, and to help account for the expenditure of public money. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies which enter into, Scottish Government contracts, to ensure that we are always able to obtain the best value for public money.

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 202400445525 - Information released - Annex A

File type

PDF

File size

1.6 MB

FOI 202400445525 - Information released - Annex B

File type

PDF

File size

59.6 kB