Communications with Nil By Mouth: FOI release

Information requested

Copies of any and all letter and email communications between the members of the Scottish Government (or those civil servants, or any advisors, or any special advisors, acting on their behalf) listed below and any officers, directors or volunteers of the charity Nil By Mouth (https://nilbymouth.org/) dated between 1st January 2020 and 31st December 2020 inclusive.

Ministers:

• The First Minister
• The Deputy First Minister
• Cabinet Secretary for Justice
• Minister for Public Health, Women's Health and Sport
• The Lord Advocate

Response

Attached is a copy of 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 exemptions under section 25(1) (information otherwise accessible), section 30(c) (effective conduct of public affairs) and section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA apply to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in the Annex.

ANNEX
REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION

Exemptions under s.25(1)
An exemption under section 25 (1) applies to the attachments in Document 1 as the FOI response was published and is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-18-03666-appeal/

An exemption under section 25 (1) applies to the attachments in Document 5 as the documents are published and available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-framework-decision-making-scotlands-route-map-through-outcrisis/

An exemption under section 25 (1) applies to the attachments in Document 15 as the decision notices are published and available at: https://www.itspublicknowledge.info/ApplicationsandDecisions/Decisions/2020/201902093.aspx and at: https://www.itspublicknowledge.info/ApplicationsandDecisions/Decisions/2020/201901001.aspx

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If you do not have access to the internet, we can supply a hard copy of the information withheld under this exemption upon request.

Exemption under s.30(c)
An exemption under section 30(c) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because disclosure of bank details would substantially prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs. This information is highly sensitive and must be kept protected in order to protect the charity from potential fraud. Scottish public authorities use grant mechanisms to facilitate delivery of a range of services through providers, such as the Third Sector, who are best placed to deliver them. If we released the bank details of the organisations charged with the delivery of such services, there is a strong possibility that they would be unwilling to continue to participate. This exemption is 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 exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. There is no public interest in the organisation’s bank details being released and the releasing of those details would result in bank account security risks.

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 and phone numbers. Disclosing this data would contravene the data 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.

FOI202100220759 - Information released

File type

123 page PDF

File size

2.7 MB