BBC Scotland 'Disclosure': FOI release

Information requested

1. Details of any meetings between the First Minister OR Cabinet Secretaries OR any Ministers with responsibility for sexual health AND any persons or organisations (including third party representatives) wishing to discuss so-called “buffer zones” around sexual health clinics and any other facilities where abortions are legally carried out from 2016 to now.
2. Any ministerial briefing papers prepared in advance of any meetings between the First Minister OR Cabinet Secretaries OR any Ministers with responsibility for sexual health AND any persons or organisations (including third party representatives) wishing to discuss so-called “buffer zones” around sexual health clinics and any other facilities where abortions are legally carried out from 2016 to now.
3. Any minutes, notes, and action plans from meetings between the First Minister OR Cabinet Secretaries OR any Ministers with responsibility for sexual health AND any persons or organisations (including third party representatives) wishing to discuss so-called “buffer zones” around sexual health clinics and any other facilities where abortions are legally carried out from 2016 to now.
4. Any correspondence between the First Minister OR Cabinet Secretaries OR any Ministers with responsibility for sexual health AND any persons or organisations (including third party representatives) wishing to discuss so-called “buffer zones” around sexual health clinics and any other facilities where abortions are legally carried out from 2016 to now.

Following our request for clarification, on 26 May you confirmed that your reference in each of the four questions to any persons or organisations was to external stakeholders. You also confirmed in relation to part d) of your request that for the entire period for 2016 until the date of your request you wanted copies of any correspondence where this requested a meeting or discussion with the First Minister or a Health Minister, but from the period from January 2021 until the date of your request you were also seeking any correspondence to the First Minister or Health Ministers which gives a view or asks about the Scottish Government’s views on buffer zones.

Response

A copy of some of the information you requested is at Annex B. In addition, a number of documents within the scope of parts b), c) and d) of your request have been released as part of other previous FOI requests. These are available at the following links:

• https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/foi-eir-release/2021/11/foi-202100243716/documents/foi202100243716---information-released/foi202100243716---information-released/govscot%3Adocument/FOI202100243716%2B-%2BAnnex%2BB.pdf
• https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/foi-eir-release/2022/06/foi-202200282675/documents/foi---202200282675---information-released/foi---202200282675---information-released/govscot%3Adocument/FOI%2B-%2B202200282675%2B-%2BInformation%2Breleased.pdf

In addition in relation to part d) of your request, the following correspondence is available online:

• (1) Back Off Scotland on Twitter: "🚨 This morning 76 consultants from the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow have written to the Women's Health Minister, @MareeToddMSP, demanding action over anti-abortion protests at the hospital. Read the letter here 👇 https://t.co/Tza29HaNBE" / Twitter
• https://twitter.com/Abortion_RCScot/status/1524704810259337216

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 or do not still have a copy of the response to the previous FOI specified above, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

In relation to part a) of your request, the Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport has chaired the Buffer Zones Working Group on 9 December 2021, 23 February 2022 and 21 April 2022. See the following webpage for more information about the group and meeting minutes:

• https://www.gov.scot/groups/ministerial-working-group---abortion-buffer-zones/#:~:text=Overview,or%20other%20facilities%20providing%20healthcare

In addition, the Minister also met Back Off Scotland on 14 September 2021 and met Cllr Kelly Parry on 6 December 2021. She met Gillian Mackay MSP on 3 February 2022 (as well as at the Buffer Zones working group on 21 April 2022, and also on 31 May 2022 and 29 June 2022 (although the latter two meetings were after the date of your request)). She has also had interviews with some journalists where they have requested an interview to discuss buffer zones issues, although we do not keep records of dates of all such interviews.

In relation to part c) of your request, finalised minutes of previous Buffer Zones working group meetings are available on the Scottish Government website at the buffer zones webpage (see link provided above). Minutes for the group’s meeting held on 21 April are still in draft. These will be published once agreed by the group at its next meeting.

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 exemptions under sections 38(1)(b) (personal information), 36(1) (legal advice), 29(1)(a) (policy development) and 30(c) (substantial prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why that exemption(s) applies are explained in the Annex A of this letter.

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 - 202200301765 - Annex A-B

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26 page PDF

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1.2 MB