Communications between the Scottish Government’s Freedom of Information team and Michael Matheson: FOI release

Information requested

Copies of communications between the Scottish Government’s Freedom of Information team and Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport.

Please include communications with his office and his Special Advisers, and restrict the search the dates between 4th April 2022 and 15th November 2022

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested in Annex A.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some the information you have requested because exemptions under sections 38(1)(b) (personal information) and section 36(1) (confidentiality in legal proceedings) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why the exemptions apply are explained below.

Reasons for Not Providing Information

Exemptions apply

An exemption under section 36(1) of FOISA (confidentiality) applies to some of the information requested because it is legal advice and disclosure would breach legal professional privilege.

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 as part of open and transparent government, and to inform public debate. However, this is outweighed by the strong public interest in maintaining the right to confidentiality of communications between legal advisers and clients, to ensure that Ministers and officials are able to receive legal advice in confidence, like any other public or private organisation.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names/contact details of individuals, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of theGeneral Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

This exemption 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.

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 - 202200330329 - Annex A

File type

14 page PDF

File size

1.3 MB