Deposit Return Scheme (13 November to 13 December): EIR release

Information requested

A copy of all letters received by the Scottish Government over the previous month from today’s date related to the forthcoming deposit return scheme”. Therefore the timeframe is now from 13 November to 13 December.

Response

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception 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 exception.

An exception applies under Regulation 10(4)(d) applies to one document within scope of your request.

Material in the course of completion, this exception covers material which is still in the course of completion, unfinished documents and incomplete data.

This exception 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 exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. We recognise that there is some public interest in release of this document as part of open, transparent and accountable government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that unfinished or incomplete information is not disclosed when it might give a misleading impression of a stakeholders view on the matter to which the information relates.

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.