Briefing prepared for the First Minister for her meeting / video conference with the Director General of the BBC: FOI release

Information requested

All items of information held in relation to the briefing prepared for the First Minister for her meeting / video conference with Tim Davie, the Director General of the BBC, on 5 October 2022, and all notes and records of the event.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested, as one PDF file.

Exemptions under sections s. 29(1)(a), s. 30(b)(i), s. 30(c) and s. 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested.

We have exempted names of some civil service staff, but retained details of their roles and/or job titles, under s.38(1)(b).

We have removed some information. The is under s.29(1)(b) and the effective formulation of government policy and also s.30(c), where disclosure would prejudice substantially, or be likely to prejudice substantially, the effective conduct of public affairs.

In addition, disclosure of some information would be detrimental to future relations with the BBC specifically, and other commercial events companies, in relation to Scottish Ministers considering options during the policy formulation stage.

We have also removed some information under s.30(b)(1), where disclosure would substantially inhibit the free and frank provision of advice to Scottish Ministers.

The exemptions are 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 in so far as it relates to details of other bids. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because the decision and quantum of Scottish Government support proposed for Glasgow could then be viewed within the context of all competitors and release of this information would support transparency in terms of funding support for major events. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the ability of Scottish Ministers to negotiate, in confidence, with other potential event organisers and secure both economic and community wellbeing from future major events taking place in Scotland.

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FOI - 202300338346 - Information release

File type

9 page PDF

File size

446.6 kB