Sponsorship and funding provision to The Pause initiative in Dundee: FOI release

Information requested

Under FOISA please supply me with Information contained in your records relating to sponsorship and funding provision to The Pause initiative in Dundee.
To be clear
Please supply me with the total amount of funding to be provided by the Scottish Government.
Please supply me with the conditions of grant/grant funding, which stipulate what criteria is expected this service for the monies budgeted for The Pause initiative in Dundee to actually achieve in real terms.
Please also state what professional standards and reporting is required to comply with the conditions of funding, this is to ensure the you are provided VfM whilst not cutting back on quality.
Please advise who is the accountable person within your social work and care provision overseeing this project and who underwrites any risk?
Who is wholly responsible for Quality Assurance?

 

Response

Please supply me with the total amount of funding to be provided by the Scottish Government.
Our aim is to provide information whenever possible. However, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because an exemption under section s.30(c) of FOISA applies to this information.The reasons why that exemption applies are explained in the Annex to this
letter.

Please supply me with the conditions of grant/grant funding, which stipulate what criteria is expected this service for the monies budgeted for The Pause initiative in Dundee to actually achieve in real terms.
Please also state what professional standards and reporting is required to comply with the conditions of funding, this is to ensure the you are provided VfM whilst not cutting back on quality.

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.

Please advise who is the accountable person within your social work and care provision overseeing this project and who underwrites any risk?
The Director for Children and Families in the Scottish Government would be considered to be the accountable person with oversight over any project funded via the Children and Families Directorate.

Who is wholly responsible for quality assurance?
Should organisations be awarded funding, the grant funding conditions with which they are issued along with the standards and conditions required for all grant funding, set out how Scottish Government ensures quality assurance in the delivery of a project. Ongoing monitoring through regular reporting ensures that these conditions are met.

 

ANNEX
REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION

An exemption applies, subject to the public interest test
Please supply me with the total amount of funding to be provided by the Scottish Government.
An exemption under section 30(c) of FOISA applies the information you have requested. A section 30 (c) exemption applies if the release of information would otherwise prejudice substantially, or be likely to prejudice substantially, the effective conduct of public affairs.
The Scottish Government has received a funding application from Pause for the Pause Dundee pilot. However, until the grant funding process has been concluded, it is not possible to provide the information that you have requested.
This is because it is not considered to be in the public interest to release information on grant funding before an offer has been accepted or awarded, as this could mean the grant award process could be adversely impacted.

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 because of interest in the provision of grant funding by the Scottish Government.
However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that organisations feel confident in applying for grant funding from the Scottish Government. This means that Scottish Government can ensure proper value for money and/or quality of delivery through the identification of the best provider when awarding grant funding for projects.

The Scottish Government does not have the information
Please supply me with the conditions of grant/grant funding, which stipulate what criteria is expected this service for the monies budgeted for The Pause initiative in Dundee to actually achieve in real terms.

Please also state what professional standards and reporting is required to comply with the conditions of funding, this is to ensure the you are provided VfM whilst not cutting back on quality.

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for. As set out above, the Scottish Government has received a funding application from Pause for the Pause Dundee pilot. Grant funding conditions are compiled as part of any grant funding process. As the grant funding process has not yet concluded, any related conditions are still to be compiled.
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.