Meeting between Scottish Government officials and Mr Todd Warnock: EIR release

Information requested

You asked for the following information:

1. Was the Scottish Government’s Ramsar policy discussed at that meeting [it being the meeting between Scottish Government officials and Mr Todd Warnock on 30 August 2017]?

2. If so, would you agree that any notes of that meeting should be released?

3. And should the records of any advice about the Scottish Government’s Ramsar policy given since 23 June 2014 to Mr Warnock, his associates, advisers, and/or agents by any Scottish Government representative be likewise released?

Response

1. The answer to the first question is no, the Scottish Government’s Ramsar policy was not discussed at this meeting on 30 August 2017.

2. I enclose a note of the meeting in PDF format, which has been redacted a little. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exception under regulation 11(2) (personal information relating to third party) of the EIRs applies to that information. The reasons why that exception applies are explained in the Annex to this letter.

3. The answer to your third question is that there has been no such advice. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. 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 in the Annex to this letter.

Reasons for not providing information - Annex
The Scottish Government does not have the information

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 (part 3 of your request) because no advice about the Scottish Government’s Ramsar policy has been given since 23 June 2014 to Mr Warnock, his associates, advisers, and/or agents by any Scottish Government representative.

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 our policy on the protection of Ramsar sites, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

An exception applies
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.

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-19-01471 - Information Released

File type

2 page PDF

File size

131.4 kB