St Andrews House Contractor Visitors: FOI release

Information requested

Last year I made a request asking for a record of who had visited St Andrews House from 1st December 2020 until 5th February 2021. In the response [reference: 202100151568] I was informed that on the 1st December, 3rd December, 4th January and 20th January 'contractor visits' were made, additionally I was informed by the response that ''Any visits to the building were essential in nature and taken in line with the Scottish Government’s Strategic Framework".

In light of this response please provide the following information:

1. All details on the purpose of the specific contractor visits mentioned above (I am requesting this because 'Contractor visit' was the original description of purpose I was given however that doesn't explain why a person was visiting the building at such a precarious time)

2. A record of guests/visitors who visited St Andrews House Edinburgh from 5th February 2021 until March 1st 2021.

3. Any correspondence had between Scottish Government staff and St Andrews House staff regarding the arrangement/planning of these contractor passes on the above dates (it's my understanding that no one would be spontaneously showing up to St Andrew's House at such a time in the pandemic and that any visit would be known, planned in advance and brought to the attention of the buildings staff beforehand)

Clarification: I understand that names cannot be given out of who received these contractor passes but, as you'll see if you look back at the original response I received, you included a table which revealed that some people entered the building as "journalist" or "BSL interpreter" therefore it is odd that there is no information whatsoever regarding the purpose of these 'contractor visits' and for them to be admitted they must have surely had a documented purpose and I believe it's important that those purposes are documented and transparent).

Response

We are able to provide some of the information, however exemptions apply to other aspects of your request.

The information we still hold is provided in the table below.

Date of visit	Reason for visit
01/12/2020	Security project remedial works
14/01/2021	East access door broken and needed urgent repair
20/01/2021	East courtyard left with excessive water and needed urgent drain repair

Visitor access records are only retained where there is a specific business need to do so.

In this instance the records relating to the purpose of contractor visits on 3rd December 2020, 4th January 2021 and 1st February 2021 are no longer held, in accordance to our standard records management practice.

The records relating to guests and visitors who attended St Andrews House from the 5th February 2021 until 1st March 2021, are no longer held, in accordance to our standard records management practice.

We are also unable to provide a copy of any correspondence between Scottish Government staff and St Andrews House staff regarding the arrangement or planning of these contractor passes during the periods requested, as these records are no longer held, in accordance to our records management practice.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some the information you have requested.

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.