Information regarding the implementation of Covid-19 passports: FOI Review

Information requested

a) ‘Any scientific, medical, immunological or epidemiological evidence provided to Scottish Ministers that underpins or supports their decision to require vaccine passports for events consisting of more than 10,000 people at open air events such as football matches;’

b) ‘Advice/recommendations on how such a scheme would actually be implemented effectively, noting any practical or technical issues that could be foreseen or reasonably anticipated;’ and

c) ‘Notes or records of any meetings/consultations/conversations/correspondence on the practicalities of the implementation of such a scheme with the SPFL, football clubs most concerned and supporter associations;’

d) ‘Assessment of likely costs for those required to implement the vaccine passport scheme for events consisting of more than 10,000 people’

e) ‘Policy submissions/briefings to Ministers from civil servants and Special Advisers on the above topics, in particular those that immediately preceded the announcement by the First Minister to the Scottish Parliament.’

Response

I apologise for the delay in responding to your request for review of the request you made under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 for:

a) ‘Any scientific, medical, immunological or epidemiological evidence provided to Scottish Ministers that underpins or supports their decision to require vaccine passports for events consisting of more than 10,000 people at open air events such as football matches;’

b) ‘Advice/recommendations on how such a scheme would actually be implemented effectively, noting any practical or technical issues that could be foreseen or reasonably anticipated;’ and

c) ‘Notes or records of any meetings/consultations/conversations/correspondence on the practicalities of the implementation of such a scheme with the SPFL, football clubs most concerned and supporter associations;’

d) ‘Assessment of likely costs for those required to implement the vaccine passport scheme for events consisting of more than 10,000 people’

e) ‘Policy submissions/briefings to Ministers from civil servants and Special Advisers on the above topics, in particular those that immediately preceded the announcement by the First Minister to the Scottish Parliament.’

I have now completed the review and I have concluded that:

• the decision to issue a section 25(1) notification under FOISA in response to request (a) be upheld. As set out in the initial response, all scientific, immunological or epidemiological evidence provided to Ministers relating to vaccine passports was published and available in the public domain: ssifia_20210349_en.pdf (legislation.gov.uk).
• the decision to issue a note under section 12 of FOISA in response to request (b) is overturned and I attach the relevant information held that relates to this request.More detail on that is provided below;
• the decision to issue a notice under section 12 of FOISA in response to request (c) is overturned, noting that this this information is publicly available. Under section 25(1) of FOISA we do not have to provide you with information that is otherwise accessible. You can view this information at the following link: case https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202100241437/;
• the decision to issue a section 25(1) notification under FOISA in response to request (d) be upheld, the published evidence paper available: ssifia_20210349_en.pdf (legislation.gov.uk) contains the information held on assessment of costs of the scheme in relation to events;
• the decision to issue a section 29(1) notification be overturned in some instances and noting that that whilst I consider that the public interest test was applied correctly in this case, with time elapsed since the initial request the policy landscape has changed. I would also note that we have carried out a further search of government records and have identified two further sources of information that meet the terms of your request, these are provided in an Annex to this letter. In addition some information that was redacted related specifically to international travel policy and as such is out of scope for your original request.

Additional information provided
I have provided additional information that meets the scope of your requests (b) and (e). Some information has been redacted in line with exemptions under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of third parties i.e. names/contact details of individuals, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the 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.

An exemption under section 28(1) of FOISA (relations within the UK) applies to some the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially relations between the Scottish Government and the UK Government, Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. It is essential for the effective administration of the UK as a whole that there should be regular, and often private, communications between the Scottish Government, the UK Government and the other devolved administrations. The release of these communications about vaccine certification will mean that the UK Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive are likely to be more reluctant to share such information with the Scottish Government in future, which would reduce both the frequency and openness of communications between the Scottish Government and other UK administrations.

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. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in maintaining good relations between the Scottish Government and the UK Government, Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, and in protecting the free exchange of information between the administrations to ensure that we keep each other fully and regularly informed about matters of mutual interest, such as vaccine certification There is no public interest in disclosing information when that will damage relationships and disrupt future communications.

Some information has been redacted because it is not within the scope of your request(s).

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.

FOI - 202100255294 - Information Released

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