Protective screen discussion held with Environment health and Trading Standards: FOI release

Information requested

A copy of all correspondence between the Scottish Government and the Environmental Health and Trading Standards Expert Officers' Group on Covid-19 in regards to protective screens/partitions and their installation in private hire vehicles.

Response

Attached is copies of correspondence held by the Scottish government which falls within the scope of your request.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide a small amount of the information you have requested because of the following exemptions detailed below.

Exemptions under s.30(b)(i) and (ii)
Exemptions under section 30(b) of FOISA (free and frank exchange) apply to some of the information you have requested because disclosure of information would, or would be likely to, cause substantial harm to the free and frank provision of views and advice. These exemptions recognises the need for candid discussion to take place within a private space so that views and advice can be given freely and frankly. These exemptions are 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 the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemptions. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemptions. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because of interest in an open and transparent government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in continuing to ensure advice can be offered freely and frankly, enabling all options and concerns to be fully considered before the best final decision is reached. This includes when responding to requests for advice and views from external stakeholders for the purposes of deliberation.

Exemption under s.36(2)
An exemption under section 36(2) of FOISA (confidentiality) applies to some of the information you have requested because disclosure of information would be considered a breach of confidence to release information given within the understanding it would not be forwarded to, seen or accessed by others. 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.

Exemption under s.38(1)(b)
An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because it is personal data of a third party, for example names of individuals or other personal data such as email addresses, phone numbers and bank details. Disclosing this data would contravene the date protection principles in the UK General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of 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.

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.

FOI202100204947 - Information released

File type

28 page PDF

File size

3.0 MB