Former Finance Secretary Resignation: FOI Review

Information requested

Please provide the times of discussions between Derek Mackay and Nicola Sturgeon or her advisers (making clear which: Ms Sturgeon or advisers) on February 5 or 6 2020, and please provide the time Mr Mackay resigned (verbally or in writing, and please state which).

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for:

"Please provide the times of discussions between Derek Mackay and Nicola Sturgeon or her advisers (making clear which: Ms Sturgeon or advisers) on February 5 or 6 2020, and please provide the time Mr Mackay resigned (verbally or in writing, and please state which)."

I have reviewed the FOI response and the handling of the case, and I have concluded that the original decision should be confirmed, with modifications.
I can confirm that there were two meetings that took place on 5 February 2020: one between the First Minister’s advisers and Mr MacKay; and a second meeting between the First Minister and Mr Mackay. During the second unscheduled meeting with the First Minister Mr MacKay verbally tendered his resignation.
As stated in the original response both of those meetings were unscheduled meetings. I have determined that, because these meetings were unscheduled, the Scottish Government does not hold a record of the times they took place, and consequently we are unable to provide you with the time of the meeting in which Mr MacKay resigned. I have therefore concluded that our our initial response should have included a formal notice that an exemption under Section 17 (1) of FOISA applies to some of 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.