Minutes from meetings of the Islay Goose Management Group: EIR release

I enclose a copy of some of the information you have requested. 

• Minutes of the Islay Goose Management Group meeting held on 27 March 2018.

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.

Scottish Natural Heritage are responsible for drafting the minutes of the Islay Goose Management Group. 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, namely the minutes of the Islay Goose Management Group which took place on 2 October 2018 which are currently being drafted by Scottish Natural Heritage.  Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies are explained below.

However, you may wish to contact Scottish Natural Heritage at Information Officer, Scottish Natural Heritage, Battleby, Redgorton,  Perth, PH1 3EW, Email: foi@nature.scot , who may be able to help you.

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because it does not have a copy of the minutes of the Islay Goose Management Group held on 2 October 2018. 

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. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about minutes of the meetings of the Islay Goose Management Group held on 2 October 2018, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.