Correspondence relating to Planned Care Funding: FOI release

Information requested

Please provide all correspondence sent by senior civil servants/NHS Scotland officials and health boards regarding the £300m announced to reduce waiting times.

Please could you provide the original timescale for how the £300m is to be distributed in the current year, 2024-25, 25-26 and 26-27, as well as any subsequent changes to that.

Please could you clarify a) how much has been paid out and b) how much of the funding paid out has gone to independent sector providers (EG outsourcing or insourcing).

If possible, please specify which firms have received funding, and how much they received.

Response

Question 1

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under section 33(1)(b) (commercial interests) and section 38(1)(b) Personal Information of FOISA apply to that information. The reasons why those exemptions apply are explained in the Annex to this letter.

Question 2

In October 2023, Ministers announced annual funding of £100 million to help reduce inpatient and daycase waiting lists by an estimated 100,000 patients over three years, subject to the annual Scottish Budget setting process. The initial investment of £30 million was allocated to Health Boards for additional activity in 2024/25 . Future investment will be considered as part of the 2025-26 Scottish Budget process.

Question 3a and b

Funding is only provided to each Health Board once they have carried out and delivered their agreed activity. As of the date of your request, no funding had yet been released.

Some of the proposals received from Health Boards indicated an intention to contract insourcing/outsourcing to support activity; however, it is for health boards locally to determine how they use the private sector and to agree any contractual arrangements. As such, the Scottish Government does not hold details of the total funding received by independent sector providers. You may wish to contact Health Boards directly who may be able to help you; you can find the contact details for Health Boards at Organisations – Scotland's Health on the Web.

ANNEX

REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION

Question 1

Section 38(1)(b) – applicant has asked for personal data of a third party

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, ie, full name of officials and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

Section 33(1)(b) – commercial interests

An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA (commercial interests) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of the company in question. Disclosing this information would be likely to give competitors an advantage in future similar tendering exercises, which would substantially prejudice the company’s ability to submit competitive tenders and so could significantly harm their commercial business.

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 a public interest in disclosing information as part of open and transparent government, and to help account for the expenditure of public money. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies which tender for, NHS contracts, to ensure that we are always able to obtain the best value for public money. 

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 - 202400436686 - Information released - Annex

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