Precision Medicine Ecosystem (PME): FOI release

Information requested

A. Q9 This includes a peer review for the Precision Panc project. I just want to confirm that there were no peer reviews conducted for the MS Future project or the investment on 22 January 2016 into the Precision Medicine Ecosystem (PME). If this is easier to phrase as an FOI then my request is please can you send me any peer reviews for MS Future and the Precision Medicine Ecosystem, grant made on 22 January 2016.

B. Q6 In this pdf which includes scanned copies of other documents there is reference to the Scottish Genome Partnership. Is this a mistake or is this another name for PME. If this was sent in error please can you send the correct information and/or explain

C. Please can you send me a copy of the ‘final scientific report’ from this project. It is specified that such a report will be produced from the agreement.

D. What further grants have the CSO made to this group/PME since the grant was offered on 22 January 2016?

E. Please could you give me a chronology of the grants related to this. The information is slightly confusing. Please could you fill in the gaps
Dates for (please correct my errors)

• 1. PME final proposal 30 November 2015
• 2. PME peer reviews
• 3. PME Grant offer letter 22 January 2016 for £4m
• 4. Precision Panc proposal
• 5. Precision Panc peer reviews
• 6. MS Future
• 7. MS Future peer reviews

It seems like you made the £4m PME grant in advance of the Precision Panc and MS Future grant applications, is that correct. Please can you explain this?

Response

Question A
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, under section 14(2) of FOISA a public authority is not required to comply with a request for information if it is identical or substantially similar to a request which it has already complied with, unless a reasonable amount of time has elapsed between the two requests. This request is substantially similar to your previous request (FOI/18/01684) which we complied with on 27 June 2018. We consider that your request is repeated and we are not obliged to comply with it. The reasoning is explained further in the Annex to this letter.

Question B
I can confirm that all the pages in the pdf referred to constitute a single document. This information was released to yourself “as held” by official records of the Scottish Government. The text “Scottish Genomics Partnership” that appears in box 1, on the Form 7 template at annex C is in error and this should have been blank. I can confirm that the completed form submitted by the grant holder did correctly state “Precision Medicine Ecosystem”.

Question C
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. The reasons why we don’t have the information are explained in the Annex to this letter.

Question D
No further grants have been awarded by CSO in support of the Precision Medicine Ecosystem programme (PME) programme, other than the £4m grant awarded to the University of Glasgow for the PME programme in 2016.

Question E
Only one award for £4m was made in respect of the grant funding in support of the Precision Medicine Ecosystem, and this was on 22 January 2016. The PRECISION-Panc and Future MS projects were components of this £4m award.

Reasons for not providing information
Repeat Request – Question A

The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance on repeated requests, available here, says that in considering whether a reasonable period of time has elapsed between the previous request and the new request, there are two questions which will help the authority:
(i) has the information changed?
(ii) have the circumstances changed?
In this case, the information we hold is the same as at the time of your previous request. We have also considered the circumstances and have concluded that there has been no significant change. For these reasons, we consider that your request is repeated and we are not obliged to comply with it.

In our previous response to FOI/18/01684 we provided copies of all information held with respect to “the review of the proposal”.

The Scottish Government does not have the information – Question C

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because no final scientific report for the PME programme has yet been submitted to the Scottish Government.
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

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.