Councils correspondence regarding funding issues: FOI release

Information requested

1. All documentation held about the Verity House Agreement including all correspondence sent and received, including internal, briefings, notes/minutes from meetings, between December 1 and December 15 2024, from the finance and local government department.

2. All correspondence sent and received by the Scottish Government, including internally, from councils about funding issues and pleas, between December 1 and December 15 2024, from the finance and local government department.
Could you also supply any analysis and briefings written about this topic in the same time frame?

Response

In both your questions you asked for information sent/received by “the finance and local government department”, this has been interpreted to mean all Scottish Government directorates which support the portfolio of the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government.

Question 1

We have interpreted this question as requesting documentation specifically about the Verity House Agreement itself or its future and not simply documents where there were references to or mentions of the Agreement.

In the timeframe you have specified, we do not hold any documentation specifically about the Verity House Agreement or its future.

Question 2

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

While our aim is to provide information wherever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions of FOISA applies to that information:

• Section 30(b)(i) - Free and frank provision of advice
• Section 38(1)(b) - Personal data relating to a third party
• Section 25 (1) – Information otherwise accessible

The reasons these exemptions apply are set out below.

An exemption applies under Section 38(1)(b) - Personal data relating to a third party

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, i.e. the 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 applies under Section 25 (1) – Information otherwise accessible

Section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) exempts information from disclosure where the requester can obtain the information without asking for it under FOISA.

The information you requested that is otherwise accessible can be found here: Local government finance circular 10/2024: settlement for 2025 to 2026 - gov.scot

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 202500448633 - Information released - Annex

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