Publication - FOI/EIR release

Anti-Poverty Summit correspondence: FOI release

Published: 26 September 2023
Directorate: Tackling Child Poverty and Social Justice Directorate
Topic: Public Sector
FOI reference: 202300355018
Date received: 3 May 2023
Date responded: 28 June 2023

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Information requested

You asked for:

"1. The correspondence or ‘minutes’ of the meetings the relevant Scottish Government workers had regarding the planning of the Anti-Poverty summit. Meetings about the design of the summit in terms of capacity, who to invite and the format. If it was multiple meetings, then please include all of them

2. All correspondence between the Scottish Government and Dovecot Studios about booking the venue to host the Anti-Poverty summit.”

Response

In respect of the first part of your request, i.e. "the correspondence or ‘minutes’ of the meetings the relevant Scottish Government workers had regarding the planning of the Anti-Poverty summit", we have interpreted this to mean the minutes or notes of meetings held between Scottish Government officials in relation to the planning of the Anti-Poverty Summit. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This is because no minutes or notes of meetings exist.

With reference to the second part of your request, i.e. "All correspondence between the Scottish Government and Dovecot Studios about booking the venue to host the Anti-Poverty summit", 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 s.38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to that information. Section 38(1)(b) relates to personal data the disclosure of which would contravene data protection principles. As such, we have redacted the names and other identifying information of Scottish Government officials, Dovecot Studios staff and any third parties.

An exemption under section s.33(1)(b) of FOISA also applies to some of the information you have requested. Section 33(1)(b) relates to commercial interests where disclosure would (or would be likely to) prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person or organisation. In view of this, we have redacted information relating to potential and actual costs of venue hire, equipment hire, and catering. Details of pricing / quotes for services is commercially sensitive and release of this information could put businesses at a commercial disadvantage were this to be made available to competitors. We have also redacted information relating to Dovecot Studios Wi-Fi network as this is only available to delegates / attendees of Dovecot Studios and release of this information could result in unauthorised use of the Wi-Fi and / or pose a security risk.

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 this would provide full transparency of all aspects related to planning for the anti-poverty summit, including consideration of costs of services which were available to the Scottish Government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring Dovecot Studios, CORE Event Services, and Hickory are not placed at a commercial disadvantage with any competitors. In relation to Wi-Fi details, we consider that there is limited public interest in disclosing the joining instructions for Dovecot Studios Wi-Fi network, whereas releasing this information could pose a security risk to users of this network.

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.