Questions regarding Ethical Standards and Minister for Sport and Wellbeing: FOI Review

Information requested

Further to response of 6th January 2021, we have now completed the review of our previous response. The original request was: 

To request regarding Ethical Standards.

BT / Openreach changed and although BT have overcharged customers frequently it would appear that our Ministers have dealings with regards to sport logo with BT on Scotland sport tops.

To ask who advises our Minister on Ethical standards in regards to important issues such as working with BT.

To ask how long our current Minister for Sport and Wellbeing has been in post.

To ask how many staff are based at the address below related to supporting the Minister.
Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing
The Scottish Government
St. Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

In your request for review, you provided further clarification of the information that you sought.

"I am going to request a review because you may have interpreted the request incorrectly.

When sport logos such as BT appear on Scotland tops then BT must surely be vetted by some sort of Ethical Standards before the Minister would endorse such.

You have advised that two members of staff in the Ministers Private Office support the role on a daily basis but who made the decision about BT logo without consulting the Minister for Public Health Sport and Wellbeing."

Response

I have concluded that the case handler conducted themselves properly and followed requisite guidelines, providing a suitable response to your original questions.

However, having received your clarification, I am able to provide further information/explanation.

BT is a commercial organisation and currently provides primary sponsorship to Scotland's National Teams in the following fields:

• Professional Football: including Men’s and Women’s A squads, Youth and Disability Teams; and
• Rugby Union: including all Scotland National teams, from Under 16s to Under 20s, two professional teams (Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby), Scotland 7s, and the FOSROC Scottish Rugby Academy, as well as domestic leagues and competitions across Scotland.

Sports Governing Bodies are similarly commercial organisations, with responsibility and autonomy to identify and negotiate sponsorship of their activities, including stewardship of Scotland's National Teams, as they see fit. Scottish Ministers have no remit or authority over such commercial negotiations.

Should you wish to enquire about the ethical considerations taken into account in appointing BT as primary sponsor, you would need to contact the relevant Sports Governing Body (details below) which made those decisions:

The Scottish Football Association Hampden Park Glasgow G42 8AY Tel: +44 (0) 141 616 6000 Email: info@scottishfa.co.uk

Scottish Ruby Union BT Murrayfield Stadium Edinburgh EH12 5PJ Tel: +44 (0) 131 378 1600 Email: feedback@sru.org.uk

About FOI

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