COVID-19 information relating to coronavirus modelling & estimations for COP26: FOI release

Information requested

"Please can you provide me with any and all reports, dated, relating to the planning of COP26.

Please can you provide me with any and all reports, dated, relating to coronavirus modelling & estimations for COP26. For the avoidance of doubt – I’m trying to find out how many infections/close contacts/hospitalisations the Scottish Government expected to result from Glasgow hosting COP26."

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. The search for providing you with any and all reports, dated, relating to the planning of COP26 produced 4075 docx and 1281 pdf's. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. You might consider narrowing your request to reports related to planning COP26 and COVID-19. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx.

In response to the second part of your request regarding COVID-19 modelling:
"The Scottish Government develops a range of epidemic scenarios to provide the best public health advice to Ministers. These are presented in the Modelling the Epidemic report (Coronavirus (COVID-19): modelling the epidemic - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)). These scenarios consider a range of influences on the epidemic, of which COP26 is one. The Scottish Government assesses the impact of COVID-19 on the NHS in the next few weeks in terms of estimated number of infections, hospital bed demand, and ICU bed demand. The scenarios within the Modelling the Epidemic report account for the start of the COP 26 conference, beginning in Glasgow on 31st October."

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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.