Questions concerning Scottish Parliament Information Centre and Conversion Therapy: FOI release

Information requested

1. If Spice has produced something new a copy please.

2. Who made the decision to take forward the petition and why?

3. Who is it 'taken forward' to and by?

4. How much evidence has the Scottish Government considered from Detransitioners? (Copies, Links, Minutes).

5. Who is responsible for the identification and review of scientific research?

6. Has anyone in the Equality Unit a hard science degree, a medical degree, child development or psychiatry qualification, a solid law degree? Please state what degrees and from where.

7. Does anyone in your directorate have appropriate and relevant graduate and post graduate qualifications - particularly decent hard sciences, biochemistry, genetics, or psychiatry ? Also research methodologies and solid graduate statistics? And, if so please identify.

8. Under FOI please provide the Scottish Government's EVIDENCE (SOLID RESEARCH peer reviewed, scientific method WITH CONTROLS) evidence that supporting the affirmation model as documented in the so called 'Anti Conversion Therapy' MoU and signed by the previous Medical Officer (representing NHS Scotland) et al is NOT unethical and (potentially) harmful, and that legalising only the affirmation model is NOT unethical and harmful; and the evidence this is not based on a dangerous and nonsensical ideology - Genderism, documented in the Yogyakarta Agenda created by major international lobbyists.”

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 an exemption under section 17(1) (Information not held) of FOISA applies to that information.

1. The briefing produced by SPICe for the Public Petitions Committee is publicly available here, as part of the agenda and meeting papers for the relevant meeting. Under section 25(1) of FOISA (information otherwise accessible). As this information is in the public domain, we are not required to provide it.

Scottish Government does not hold information regarding operations of the Scottish Parliament or it’s Information Centre (SPICe). Should you wish to make a request to the Scottish Parliament regarding further documents in relation to PE01817: End Conversion Therapy, they can be contacted directly here: FOI Request Form - About the Parliament : Scottish Parliament.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because we do not hold it.

2. Our response dated 2 November 2020 stated that the Public Petitions Committee took forward consideration of PE01817: End Conversion Therapy. All petitions which meet the ScottishParliament’s rules will be published and considered by the committee.

3. The Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee agreed on 1 October 2020 to refer the petition to the Equalities and Human Rights Committee. The link to their Official Report of the meetings can be found here, and the minutes here. This is made publicly available information and not generated by the Scottish Government.

4.  We have interpreted this to mean evidence in connection to Petition PE01817. While we aim to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold any evidence considered from detransitioners in relation to progress of the petition as this is a matter for the Scottish Parliament.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because we do not hold it.

5.  It is the responsibility of policy officials, in partnership with relevant professionals and experts as appropriate, to identify and consider evidence when making policy. Collecting data to support decisions is an integral part of policy development and we welcome stakeholder and public input into our consultation processes for legislation and policymaking more broadly. Given the general nature of this question, you may wish to submit a more specific question that can be dealt with separately.

6 & 7. While the Scottish Government retains proof of the validity of qualifications held by staff members in cases where specific qualifications are required within a job specification, we do not hold collective data on the full qualifications held by members of staff.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because we do not hold it.

8. The Scottish Government does not hold any evidence in relation to ‘the affirmation model’. The Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy in the UK, signed by the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland on behalf of NHS Scotland and publicly available here, does not make specific mention of ‘the affirmation model.’

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because we do not hold it.

In response to your general points raised about the conduct of civil servants working within the Equality Unit, it is worth noting that all civil servants within the Scottish Government are bound by the Civil Service Code of Conduct. The code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of all civil servants to uphold the Civil Service’s core values, which are integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. As mentioned in previous correspondence, if you remain dissatisfied with the Scottish Government’s handling of this, details on how to make a complaint can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/about/contact-information/make-a-complaint/

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.