Correspondence regarding Margaret Ferrier between September and October 2020: FOI release

Information requested

Any communications, correspondence, be it email, text message, whatsapp or of any kind available relating to Margaret Ferrier MP between the Scottish Government Ministers/Special Advisors and people external to the Scottish Government between September 14th and October 14th.

Response

Please see Annex A for the information requested. 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 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA is applicable.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (third party personal data) applies to the information requested because it is third party personal information and so it is subject to the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is 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 exemption.

In addition, this is a formal notice under Section 25 (1), some of the information you have requested has already been published by the Scottish Government. Please see the following link to access this information - https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202000094155/

This exemption is subject on 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 there is public interest in correspondence between the Scottish Government Ministers/Special Advisors and people external to the Scottish Government. However, there is a greater public interest in the use of public resources. Since providing this information would create a duplication in work, we have determined this would not being a responsible use of public resources and therefore not in the public interest.

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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.

FOI202000118037 - Annex A

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92 page PDF

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704.6 kB