Advertising the sale of Prestwick Airport: FOI release

Information requested

1. Please provide a copy of all the business-facing or public-facing documentation that the Scottish Government has used to advertise the sale of Prestwick Airport. For example, please provide a copy of any brochures or adverts placed.
2. Please provide a copy of all the documentation that the Scottish Government has made available to companies that are subsequently considered (a) credible expressions of interest or (b) a preferred bidder for Prestwick Airport.
3. Please confirm how much the Scottish Government has spent to date advertising the sale of Prestwick Airport, broken down by the type of cost, and details of how the sale has been advertised.
4. Please confirm how much the Scottish Government has spent to date working on the sale of Prestwick Airport, broken down by cost.

Response

Some of the information you have requested is available from various websites, the links to which are provided below. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the websites listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

• The Transport Scotland news article from 13 June 2019 announcing that a notice was to be published is available at the following link: https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/glasgowprestwick- airport/.
• The Public Contracts Scotland notice from June 2019 is available at the following link: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JUN357307. This webpage also contains links to both the Glasgow Prestwick Airport Proposed sale of shareholding in Prestwick Aviation Holdings Limited Eligibility Questionnaire 13 June 2019 document and the Glasgow Prestwick Airport Eligibility Questionnaire Response Template 13 June 2019 document. Both of these documents can be found under the Additional Documents tab.
• The Transport Scotland news article from 5 November 2020 announcing that a notice was to be published is available at the following link: https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/glasgowprestwick- airport-1/.
• The Public Contracts Scotland notice from November 2020 is available at the following link: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=NOV399161. This webpage also contains links to both the Glasgow Prestwick Airport Proposed sale of shareholding in Prestwick Aviation Holdings Limited Eligibility Questionnaire 5 November 2020 document and the Glasgow Prestwick Airport Eligibility Questionnaire Response Template 5 Nov 20 document. Both of these documents can be found under the Additional Documents tab.

For part two of your request, I enclose a copy of some of the of the information you requested. In this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections 33(1)(b) substantial prejudice to commercial interests and 38(1)(b) - Third party personal data of FOISA applies to that information.

Exemption 33(1)(b) applies as it contains commercial information in relation to the identity of a bidder/credible interested party. Exemption 33(1)(b) 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 public interest in information related to the potential sale of Prestwick Airport, however this is outweighed by the public interest in not releasing the names of bidders/credible interested parties in order to safeguard the integrity of commercial discussions and to avoid any detrimental impact on our position in any future negotiations.

Exemption 38(1)(b) applies as it contains personal information of individuals. Exemption 38(1)(b) 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.

The process to return Glasgow Prestwick Airport back to the private sector was managed by the Senior Management Team at the airport, with the airport providing information as part of the sale process.

The Scottish Government has not spent any money advertising the sale of Prestwick Airport. The opportunity was promoted through a press release and notices being published on the Official Journal of the European Union and Public Contracts Scotland.

Professional fees in relation to the sale of Prestwick Airport are £2,510,348.62. This comprises legal and other professional advisers.

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.

FOI - 202200280814 - Information release

File type

4 page PDF

File size

692.1 kB