Follow-up to the day and respite services surveys undertaken by local authorities and health and social care partnerships: FOI release

Information requested

In your request, you asked for information about the November 2022 follow-up to the day and respite services surveys undertaken by local authorities and health and social care partnerships, specifically:

• The text of the letter sent to HSCPs/local authorities from the Cab Sec for Health about the November 2022 follow-up survey and the contents of the survey.
• The breakdown of responses to the November 2022 follow-up.
• Any analysis or summary of responses.
• High-level thematic findings.

Response

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

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption under section 33(1)(b) Commercial interests and the economy of FOISA applies to that information.

An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because it relates to the reported comments contained in the columns ‘If not fully open, please state reason’ and ‘Comments’. These comments have been provided by establishments operated by external (independent, third and private sector) service providers in a commercial environment. Publishing these comments could prejudice substantially the commercial interests of these providers in a competitive market and so some of the information in relation to these providers contained in some of their comments has been redacted.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, 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 the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in releasing all the information we hold on external service providers for reasons of transparency and to inform the public debate. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that the capacity of external service providers to meet the needs of market demands is not prejudiced in any way, which is not in the interest of the public. Therefore, only the information provided in the columns detailing: Service Name, Provider Type, Main client Type, Max Capacity and Current Capacity has been provided.

For completeness, an exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) also applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. the names and contact details Local Authority employees, 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.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

Request information - 202300357230

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