HMP Glasgow information: FOI release

Information requested

1. The first draft of the letter the Cabinet Secretary for Justice & Home Affairs sent to the Criminal Justice Committee on 5 February 2025 regarding an update on the proposed HMP Glasgow and all subsequent edits, amendments and comments suggested by officials, special advisers and ministers before the final version was signed off.

2. When the Cabinet Secretary for Justice & Home Affairs first learned of the updated costs of HMP Glasgow as set out in the aforementioned letter. Please provide the correspondence which provided the Cabinet Secretary with this information and any subsequent correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary or her office responding to that information (if another minister or Cabinet Secretary under a previous title was informed of these updated costs before the current Cabinet Secretary for Justice & Home Affairs please provide this correspondence instead).

3.The updated proposals that were presented to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice & Home Affairs for the new HMP Glasgow that were referenced in the letter, any changes, additions or deletions to the plans that she, any other minister or special adviser suggested, whether these suggestions were implemented and the costs that were associated with implementing them into the updated proposal (if another Minister or Cabinet Secretary under a previous title was provided with these updated proposals please provide this correspondence instead). Please also provide the full correspondence which requests the Cabinet Secretary sign off on these updated proposals including the correspondence confirming that the updated proposals were approved.

4. A full breakdown of the £998.4 million cost of the updated HMP Glasgow proposals, including the amount of money that will be spent on the various amenities that the prison will be equipped with.

Response

Part 1

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested in Annex A. 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 30(b) of FOISA (free and frank provision of advice or exchange of views).

This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice or exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. This exemption recognises the need for Ministers and officials to have a private space within which to discuss and explore options before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. 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, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing a private space within which officials can provide full and frank advice to Ministers, as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government’s position until the Government as a whole can adopt a decision that is sound and likely to be effective. This private thinking space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, based on the best available advice, so that good policy decisions can be taken. Disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between Ministers and officials, which in turn will undermine the quality of the decision making process, which would not be in the public interest.

Part 2

The answer to your question is that the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs received regular verbal updates on the pricing and commercial process of the HMP Glasgow construction contract from the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service over the course of 2024. On 21 October 2024 the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs received a formal update from the Scottish Prison Service on HMP Glasgow costs, which also noted further negotiation would take place. On 13 January 2025 Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs received a formal update from Scottish Government officials which confirmed the final price of £998m. This correspondence and subsequent correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary responding to that information is provided in Annex B.

Section 30(b) of FOISA (free and frank provision of advice or exchange of views) applies to some this information. As noted above, this exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice and exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. This exemption recognises the need for Ministers and officials to have a private space within which to discuss and explore options before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. 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, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing a private space within which officials can provide full and frank advice to Ministers, as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government’s position until the Government as a whole can adopt a decision that is sound and likely to be effective. This private thinking space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, based on the best available advice, so that good policy decisions can be taken. Premature disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between Ministers and officials, which in turn will undermine the quality of the decision making process, which would not be in the public interest.

Section 33(1)(b) (substantial prejudice to commercial interests) applies to some of this information. This is because the construction contract for HMP Glasgow is a live contract and disclosing this information is likely to substantially prejudice the commercial relationship between the Scottish Prison Service and the contractor. 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, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, we consider there is a greater public interest in avoiding substantial prejudice to commercial interests in this case.

Section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of this information because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and contact details of individuals, 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.

Part 3

While we do endeavour to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. This is due to the volume of information that was identified in the initial searches of our corporate systems. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12. You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. It is likely that the most useful way to do this would be to give us an indication of which particular information you are interested in to allow us to undertake a more focussed approach to look for information. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: Tips for requesters (itspublicknowledge.info)

Part 4

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because an exemption under section 33(1 (b) of FOISA – substantial prejudice to commercial interests - applies to that information. This is because the construction contract for HMP Glasgow is a live contract and disclosing this information is likely to prejudice the commercial relationship between the Scottish Prison Service and the contractor. 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, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, we consider there is a greater public interest in avoiding substantial prejudice to commercial interests in this case.

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 202500451844 - Information released - Annex A

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PDF

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189.6 kB

FOI 202500451844 - Information released - Annex B

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149.2 kB