Correspondence with Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) regarding Project Chestnut: FOI Review

Information requested

Original request - 202300363656

Any correspondence with Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) on the topic of Project Chestnut since September 1, 2022, to date.

Response

Further to my letter of 28 July 2023, I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

Your request for a review

You expressed that you were not satisfied with the reply to your original Freedom of Information (FoI) request which was allocated reference number 202300363656. The wording of this initial request is outlined below:

“Any correspondence with Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) on the topic of Project Chestnut since September 1, 2022, to date.(27th June 2023)”

Upon receipt of the response to this request, you subsequently submitted a review request as follows: “I believe the public interest around this information is self-evidently in the public interest given the extremely significant sums of money being spent by the Scottish Government at Ferguson Marine, specifically in regards to two ferries but also in making the yard competitive. For the information around the decision to continue funding the yard to remain secret actively reduces scrutiny of decisions made by the government. It should be published.”

I have been asked to look at your request afresh, to decide whether the original response should be confirmed, with or without modifications, as appropriate, or that a fresh decision should be substituted.

I can confirm that I was not involved in the handling or decision-making around the original response. I have considered this case again, and I have conducted a comprehensive review of the response, and the reasons behind withholding the requested information. I have concluded that the original decision should not be upheld and that a different decision should be substituted whereby the information you requested should be released, however, an exemption under section 38(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested.

The information released is contained in the emails attached. Our aim is to provide you with the information requested wherever possible. Project Chestnut has now been completed and as such it is appropriate that the information requested should be made available in the interests of transparency and disclosure.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202300368408 - Information Released - Annex

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