Ministerial Preferences for Out of Hours Working: FOI Review
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Information requested
Original request - 202300341181
"Please supply the content of all documentation regarding the preferences of all current Scottish Government ministers for working on or being contacted on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, and during anti-social hours, including preferences regarding a disinclination to work or be contacted during such days and times.”
Response
I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for "Please supply the content of all documentation regarding the preferences of all current Scottish Government ministers for working on or being contacted on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, and during anti-social hours, including preferences regarding a disinclination to work or be contacted during such days and times.”
Our response:
In conducting my review I have considered your request afresh. I have concluded that a new decision should be substituted.
Only two Ministers indicated preferences for working on or being contacted within the timeframes outlined in your request, the former Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, and Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights. Therefore, this is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.
The preferences for both the former Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy and Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights are attached in the Annex with this letter.It should be noted that the Minister is always available to undertake urgent business, and regularly works during the hours of your request, such as public holidays, weekends, and in the evening when required.
As a result of issuing some information at this stage, we are unable to provide some of the information because an exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information, this is because it is personal data of a third party 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.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback