Home Education policy - cooperation with the UK: FOI release

Information requested

1. Agendas, minutes and emails relating to meetings and discussions with the Department for Education in London about the formulation of home education law, policy and guidance in Scotland and England.
2. The information dated from 13 January 2022.

Response

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

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 under sections 28(1) (relations within the United Kingdom) and section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA apply to that information.
The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained below.

An exemption under Section 38(1)(b) applies to some of the information you have requested. This exemption relates to personal information of government officials contained within email exchanges.

An exemption under section 28(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This exemption relates to the release of information where that information would prejudice the relationship between any administrations of government in the UK. This exemption applies as the release of some of the content of emails and note of a meeting between Scottish Government and the UK government has the potential to harm the working relationship between these administrations.

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 some public interest in release because of the public interest in open and transparent government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in cooperation between the four nations, and the positive impact that free and frank exchange of views between administrations will have on the development of policy in Scotland.

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.

202200293473 - enclosure 1 - emails between Scottish Government and DfE 13 January to 8 April 2022

File type

5 page PDF

File size

553.9 kB