Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care use of governmental device: FOI release

Information requested

1. Whether Michael Matheson informed anyone in the Scottish Government of his holiday to Morocco during December 2022/January 2023 in advance of it and if so when.

2. Whether Michael Matheson asked the Scottish Government to take a government device with him on this holiday, whether this request was accepted or rejected and if the Scottish Government is aware of Michael Matheson taking a government issued device on this holiday.

3. Whether the Scottish Government is aware of Michael Matheson using his government issued device during this holiday and if so what it was used for.

4. All emails sent by Michael Matheson from his Scottish Government account during his holiday in Morocco and the email chains these emails were included in.

Response

1. Yes. Michael Matheson informed the relevant individuals of his leave commitments which ensured appropriate cover was in place.

2. There was no request for Michael Matheson to take his government issued devices abroad.

3. As noted in response to Question 2, there was no request from Michael Matheson to take his government issued device abroad.

4. This is a formal notice under Section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested because Michael Matheson made no request to take his government issued device abroad and therefore did not conduct government business during this time.

To confirm, We conducted a search of the corporate record and identified no documents that would fall within scope of your request.

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.