Publication - FOI/EIR release

Invitations to Bute House dinner in March 2017: FOI Release

Published: 28 July 2017
Directorate: Economic Development Directorate
Topic: Public sector

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

FOI reference: FOI/17/01558
Date received: 6 July 2017
Date responded: 27 July 2017

Information requested

A copy of each invitation, paper or electronic, to a dinner in Bute House on 21 March 2017 for those people listed below;


Anne Budge
Katherine Garret-Cox
Jayne-Anne Gadhia
Marie Macklin
Jim McColl
Sir Ian Wood
Sir David Murray
Calum Paterson
Sir Ewan Brown CBE
Chris van der Kuyl
Dan MacDonald
Sir Brian Souter

Together with any communications between any individual attendee and any Scottish Minister(s) which the Scottish Government holds following the meeting and;
Any communications between any Scottish Minister(s) and an individual attendee following the meeting

Response

In response to 1. above, enclosed is a copy of some of the information you requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The reasons why we don't have all of the information are explained in the Annex to this letter. In addition, an exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why this exemption applies is explained in the Annex to this letter.

In response to 2. above, enclosed is a copy of the information you requested. An exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why this exemption applies is explained in the Annex to this letter.

In response to 3. above, no information is held. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Ministers do not have the information you have requested.

Reasons for not providing information

In relation to 1. Above

The Scottish Government does not have all the information you have asked for because standard invitations are not routinely held on file.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have all of the information you have requested.

With regard to the information that we do hold, 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 Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998. 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. In relation to 2. above

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 and contact details of individuals, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998. 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