The Scottish Growth Scheme progress report: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for

- the most recent Scottish Growth Scheme monthly progress report.

- Further to this you would like to know when these reports are made available to Ministers and staff,

- and would like to be made aware of how much has been invested in the Scottish Growth Scheme by the Scottish Government and how much has been invested by outside organisations.

Response

The latest monthly progress report is for September 2019, and a redacted version is enclosed.

The answer to your question is that these reports are made available to Ministers and officials on a monthly basis.

To end September 2019, the Scottish Government has invested £29.5m through Scottish Enterprise and appointed Fund Managers. In addition, we have sourced £15.4m from European sources via ERDF and European Investment Fund monies. These monies have leveraged private enterprise resources of £115.1m.

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 exemption under section 29(1)(a) (policy formulation) of FOISA applies to some of that information because it relates to the development of the Scottish Government’s policy on the Scottish Growth Scheme.

The reasons why that exemption applies is as follows. 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 theinformation 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, in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate.

However, this is outweighed by the greater public interest in high quality policy-making, and in the properly considered implementation and development of policies. This means that Ministers and officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications. Their candour in doing so will be affected by their assessment of whether the discussions on the Scottish Growth Scheme will be disclosed in the near future, when it may undermine or constrain the Government’s view on that policy while it is still under development.

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/201900005717 - Information released

File type

2 page PDF

File size

78.3 kB