Publication - FOI/EIR release

Correspondence regarding Covid-19 Inquiry and social media messaging policy: FOI release

Published: 11 December 2023
Directorate: Digital Directorate
Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202300383421
Date received: 2 November 2023
Date responded: 30 November 2023

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Information requested

1. A full list of media requests to Jason Leitch, and Scottish Government ministers regarding the Covid Inquiry between Oct 25 and the date of this FOI. Can you include who the organisation is and whether they got accepted or rejected?

2. How many ministers requested exemptions from the Enterprise Vault back-up system in the last four years? Could you include a list of who the minister was and how many requests have been made, and also what the topic was?

4. Lorna Slater told BBC Sunday Show on October 29 that she did not have a government phone, could you provide the evidence for this?

5. All correspondence received and sent by George Adam, including internal correspondence, since October 25, regarding the Covid Inquiry?

6. Who instructed the social media messages deletion policy, as described by Shona Robison in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday October 31 and when was it implemented?

7. When did the Scottish Covid Inquiry or the Scottish Government issue a do not destroy notice? Same for the UK Covid Inquiry?

8. How many WhatsApp messages from Nicola Sturgeon regarding the pandemic were recorded on the records management system and on what dates?

9. Which ministers have telegram and signal downloaded on their government phones in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023? Or how many had these apps on their phones on the same dates?

Response

1. A full list of media requests to Jason Leitch, and Scottish Government ministers, regarding the Covid Inquiry between Oct 25 and the date of this FOI. Can you include who the organisation is and whether they got accepted or rejected?
The Deputy First Minister updated Parliament on October 31 to address issues raised by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry at the Preliminary Hearing on 26 October and to give reassurances on the Scottish Government’s commitment to a full response to the Inquiry.

During her statement the Deputy First Minister made clear that this was in exceptional circumstances as the government would not normally make a statement regarding engagement with Public Inquiries while their proceedings are live.

She also outlined that in order to ensure the Inquiries can take forward their necessary work without undue speculation, Scottish Ministers do not intend to provide a running commentary on the work of either inquiry.

On this basis interview bids were declined both ahead of and after the statement.

Please find in the Annex the information you requested.

3. How much money has the Scottish Government spent on mobile phones and sim cards for ministers and their staff in each of the last four years, starting in 2020? And how many of each have been handed out? Can this include whether there were encrypted messaging apps included on them?
3.1. Under Section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

The Scottish Government has published a breakdown of spend for ministerial mobile phones in response to a Parliamentary Question which can be found on the Scottish Parliament website here.

This a formal notice under Section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested as we are unable to breakdown costs by individual private offices. However, I have outlined the spend for mobile phone costs associated with all private office staff broken down by financial year below:

2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23
£20,139.87	£11,552.47	£12,240.29	£18,885.90

3.2. Between 2020 and 2023, according to our records, 30 Ministers have had a Scottish Government issued mobile phone and SIM card.

This a formal notice under Section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested as we are unable to provide the total number of mobile phones issued to private office staff during the specified period.

3.3. Only the built-in system messaging apps are included on a Scottish Government issued mobile phone. Installation of other messaging apps can be performed by the user after they receive the device if they choose, including the corporate Microsoft Teams app.

4. Lorna Slater told BBC Sunday Show on October 29 that she did not have a government phone, could you provide the evidence for this?
This is a formal notice under Section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested because Lorna Slater MSP has not requested nor received a government issued mobile phone or SIM card.

5. All correspondence received and sent by George Adam, including internal correspondence, since October 25, regarding the Covid Inquiry?
There were 2 pieces of correspondence on 29 October 2023.

6. Who instructed the social media messages deletion policy, as described by Shona Robison in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday October 31 and when was it implemented?
As the Deputy First Minister told Parliament, the Scottish Government’s longstanding Records Management Policy has always been clear that, regardless of the platform (i.e. including mobile messaging apps), information relevant to the corporate record must be saved. That over-arching Policy, first developed in 2013 which preceded the pandemic, also states that information and records shall be retained only as long as they are required to support Scottish Government in its business requirements and legal obligations.

In April 2020, the following guidance was posted on ‘Saltire’, the Scottish Government intranet, available to all SCOTS users:

Non-SCOTS platforms
Keeping in touch with colleagues and having social and business contact during this time is vitally important. Apps like Zoom, Slack and WhatsApp can be downloaded on your SCOTS mobile but must be used in a responsible, professional manner. When using them remember:

apps are for official info only
messages are only encrypted when in transit - as soon as they arrive on your device it depends on your security settings
messages are subject to Freedom of Information (FOI)
messages should be transitory and not used as the official record
messages should be deleted as soon as they are no longer needed

In June 2021, the Scottish Government Executive Team agreed to consider whether further guidance was required on the use of Whatsapp, which saw the development of the Scottish Government Mobile messaging apps - usage and policy in November 2021. This complementary guidance also makes clear that mobile messaging does not change individual civil servants’ responsibility to maintain complete and comprehensive records of key conversations and decisions, to be saved into the Electronic Records and Document Management system (eRDM).

7. When did the Scottish Covid Inquiry or the Scottish Government issue a do not destroy notice? Same for the UK Covid Inquiry?
The information you have requested is available on the Scottish Covid Inquiry website. Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry Issues "Do Not Destroy" Letters | Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry (covid19inquiry.scot).

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

In preparation for the Scottish and UK Covid-19 inquiries, the Scottish Government has ensured all staff are aware of their legal obligations to make certain that all information and records are appropriately retained in line with the Scottish Government records management policy. This policy states that information and records should be retained for as long as they are required to support the Scottish Government in its business requirements and legal obligations.

In addition to this preparation, Director General Corporate and Director General Strategy and External Affairs distributed an email regarding the retention of records and the Scottish Government’s obligations in providing a full and clear narrative of the Scottish Government’s decision making during the pandemic in relation to the Scottish and UK Covid-19 Inquiries. Director General Corporate also sent a further email to colleagues highlighting the importance of record retention in relation to both Inquiries. Copies of both emails are being released as part of this response.

8. How many WhatsApp messages from Nicola Sturgeon regarding the pandemic were recorded on the records management system and on what dates?
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you asked for because the Scottish Government does not as a matter of course record the type of medium used for every communication and this is not a requirement of our Records Management Plan.

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

9. Which ministers have telegram and signal downloaded on their government phones in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023? Or how many had these apps on their phones on the same dates?
Based on our records, Telegram is currently installed on the Scottish Government Ministerial phone listed below. Signal is not installed on any Scottish Government ministerial phones. We do not hold historical data.

Minister	Telegram
Joe FitzPatrick MSP Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning	Installed

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