Judicial Appointments Board member WhatsApp messages during Covid-19 pandemic: FOI release

Information requested

The WhatsApp messages of "Paul Cacketter" during the Covid-19 pandemic, which for practical purposes we have interpreted as the period from 21 January 2020, the date on which the WHO published its ‘Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Situation Report’, to 30 April 2022, the date on which remaining Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in Scotland. We have assumed that the individual in which you are interested is Paul Cackette, former Deputy Director in Organisational Readiness, former Director of PPE and former Director of Outbreak Management at the Scottish Government.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you have requested.

All but one of the WhatsApp conversations featuring Paul Cackette have been considered as part of your previous FOI requests, refs. 202400422232, 202400422237 and 202400425743. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you are unable to obtain this information from either the previous correspondence or the published responses on the Scottish Government website, then please contact us again and we will send further copies in a different format.

There is one additional WhatsApp conversation with the former Director-General Health and Social Care, which I have enclosed with this response. An exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of the information in the message exchanges because it comprises personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998.

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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 202400436415 - Information Released - Annex

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