Scottish International Development Association Head of Policy and Communications appointment: FOI release

Information requested

1. When the Scottish Government first became aware of the Scottish International Development Association’s appointment of Patrick Grady to the role of Head of Policy and Communications.

2. The initial response the Scottish Government drafted up for responding to press queries about this story and all subsequent changes and drafts including the final draft comment which was approved and sent out to journalists. Please state whether a Scottish Minister or special adviser gave the final sign off on this comment before being sent out.

3. Whether any Scottish Minister has held a meeting with Patrick Grady since 4 July 2024 and if so please state which ministers, when they met and any minutes or notes recorded of that meeting.

4. When a Scottish Minister last met with the Scottish International Development Alliance, the attendees at that meeting and the minutes of that meeting.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested as a PDF.

The answer to your first question is that the CEO of Scotland's International Development Alliance (SIDA) emailed Scottish Government officials on 10 December 2024 intimating that Patrick Grady had started work as Head of Policy and Communications at SIDA that week.

In relation to your second question, I have attached some of the information you have requested. I can confirm that, as is shown in the information attached, the Scottish Government comment which was released to journalists was agreed first by a special adviser and then approved at ministerial level – by Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, as lead on international development matters.

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 sections s.38(1)(b) (personal information), s.30(b)(ii) (Substantial inhibition to free and frank exchange of views) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained below.

Exemptions under sections s.38(1) and s.30(b) of FOISA apply to some of the information you have requested. This is because the information includes personal data of a third party and because some of the information includes free and frank exchanges of views between officials for the purposes of deliberation in order to provide advice to Scottish Ministers prior to the issuing of responses to media queries.

Exemptions under s.38(1)(b) are 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.

Exemptions under s.30(b) are 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 because of public interest in open and transparent government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in officials being able to deliberate on sensitive issues prior to providing advice to Ministers to ensure accurate and prompt responses to media queries.

In relation to your third 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 have the information you have asked for because there are no records of Scottish Ministers having held any meetings with Patrick Grady since 4 July 2024. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. For your information, details regarding ministerial meetings is routinely published online at the following address: Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot.

In relation to your fourth question, the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affair and Culture was a guest speaker at the evening reception of the SIDA annual conference on 4 September 2024. More information on this conference is available here: Annual Conference 2024 - Scotland's International Development Alliance and a note of this engagement is attached. This was a ticketed event organised by SIDA and as such, the Scottish Government does not hold a list of attendees. You may wish to get in touch with SIDA directly for more information at admin@intdevalliance.scot. 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 have the information you have asked for because it does not hold an attendee list of this engagement. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

Prior to this speaking engagement, for completeness, the Cabinet Secretary met with SIDA alongside other international development core funded bodies on 12 June 2024 and minutes of this engagement are attached as a PDF. The Cabinet Secretary also met with the SIDA Diaspora Group, including one SIDA staff member, on 7 November 2024 and the minutes for this are also attached. Please note there is a small inaccuracy in the document numbered 4 and to clarify, International Development Education Association of Scotland (IDEAS) does not run Scotland’s Development Education Centres (DECs).

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 an exemption under section s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why that exemption applies are explained below.

An exemption under section s.38(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is because the information includes personal data of a third party. 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.

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 202500446733 - Information Released - Annex

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