Correspondence regarding 14th December 2023 Parliamentary statement: FOI release

Information requested

"Any correspondence or records of world leaders approaching the Scottish Government for advice of any such topics. This could be email, letters, text or WhatsApp messages, I am sure any correspondence with world leaders on these topics would be recorded officially and I would like to see these.

As well as the correspondence I would like to see any messages from Minister Mairi McAllan [related to this statement] in the days following her statement to Parliament where she made the comments."

Response

In relation to your first question, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. The Scottish Government does not maintain a central log of occasions where we receive requests for advice. While correspondence and meetings with heads of state and government are recorded by the Scottish Government these do not record requests for advice as a specific category. Therefore to compile a list of instances of the Scottish Government being approached for advice we would need to assess each message to interpret whether it could constitute a request for advice.

This would involve creating new information using a degree of expert skill and subjective judgement rather than compiling information already held. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

In relation to your second question I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested.

An exemption(s) under section 30(b)(1) (Substantial inhibition to the free and frank provision of advice) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested as this includes draft messages and advice on drafting.

This exemption 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 exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release in the interests of transparency and open government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in protecting a private space to consider the Scottish Government's approach.

An exemption(s) under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested as this includes the names and contact details of Scottish Government officials and correspondents.

This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, we are not required to go on to consider whether 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 202300390011 - Information Released - Annex

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4 page PDF

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153.1 kB