Angus Robertson meeting with Edrington Group: FOI release

Information requested

Information held in relation to the briefings prepared for Cabinet Secretary Angus Robertson and the notes made for his meeting with senior staff at Edrington on 4 October 2022.

Response

I attach a copy of the briefing and engagement report for the meeting.

Some of the information has been redacted because exemptions under sections 33(1)(b) (substantial prejudice to commercial interests) and 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to that information.

Section 33(1)(b) – Commercial interests

An exception under Section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This exception applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the confidentiality of commercial information and thus cause substantial harm to the stakeholder’s commercial interests. Disclosing this information would be likely to prejudice our relations with the stakeholder and make it more difficult for future engagement to take place in a spirit of trust and openness.

This exception 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 exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open and transparent government. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of stakeholders with which we engage and to maintain engagement based on trust.

Section 38(1)(b) – Personal information

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party (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.

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 202300339804 - Information released

File type

2 page PDF

File size

128.5 kB