Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care communications during December 2022 - January 2023: FOI release

Information requested

1. Any and all communications (including WhatsApps +private emails about government business) from Michael Matheson during December 2022 and January 2023.
2. Any documents relating to the decision to pay for Michael Matheson's iPad bill from the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body.
3. Any documents relating to the decision-making process involved in whether or not to pay bills of this nature.

Response

Question 1:

I have included copies of information you have requested in Annex B.

On reviewing material within scope of your request, exemptions have been applied in line with FOISA. The exemptions applied can be found in Annex A.

Question 2:

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 the device in question was supplied to Michael Matheson in his MSP capacity, therefore, the responsibility of the device and decisions made in relation to the costs by the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body sits solely with the Scottish Parliament.

You may wish to direct your request to the Information Management and Governance Team by emailing foi.officer@parliament.scot. Further information and other ways to request information can be found on the Scottish Parliament website here.

Question 3:

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 the device in question was supplied to Michael Matheson in his MSP capacity, therefore, the responsibility of the device and decisions made in relation to the costs by the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body sits solely with the Scottish Parliament.

You may wish to direct your request to the Information Management and Governance Team by emailing foi.officer@parliament.scot. Further information and other ways to request information can be found on the Scottish Parliament website here.

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 202300384476 - Information Released - Annex A - B

File type

15 page PDF

File size

260.0 kB