Scottish National Standardised Assessments, correspondence with Professor Sue Ellis: FOI release

Information requested

 

Any correspondence the Scottish Government has (a) sent to or (b) received from Professor Sue Ellis, in relation to Scottish National Standardised Assessments from May 2015.

 

Response

 

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 exemptions under sections 25(1) (information otherwise accessible), 27(1) (information intended for future publication), Section 30(b)(ii) (free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation) and 38(1)(b) (personal information), apply  to that information.

The reasons why the exemptions apply are explained in the Annex to this letter.

Having considered all relevant information I have attached a pdf file with all available information included.
A previously published FOI response contains some of the information you have requested. This can be found by following the link below:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-19-00268/
Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.

 

ANNEX

REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION

 Exemptions apply

 An exemption under section 25(1) of FOISA (information otherwise accessible) applies to some of the information you have requested.  As this information is in the public domain, we are not required to provide it. 

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, ie names/contact details of individuals, 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.  

 These exemptions are 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 exemptions.

 An exemption applies, subject to the public interest test

 An exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information requested because we intend to publish that information within 12 weeks of the date of your request.  We consider that it is reasonable to withhold the information, rather than release some of this published information before the planned publication date.

 This exemption 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 exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release, and this will be met by our planned publication.  In the meantime, there is a greater public interest in taking the time necessary to ensure the information has been properly collated and checked before it is published as planned. Also, we see no public interest in disrupting our programme of work to release the information ahead of the intended publication date.

 

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-201900000649 Correspondence requested

File type

32 page PDF

File size

1.2 MB