Alcohol ban at Scottish football grounds: FOI release

Information requested

All documentation held by the Scottish Government about the booze ban at football, including correspondence sent and received (including internal), minutes/notes from meetings, briefings and analysis from the last three months.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested.

Exemptions under sections 29(1)(a) (formulisation of government policy) and section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested.

An exemption 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it relates to people below the grade of a senior civil servant.

An exemption under section 29(1)(a) of FOISA (formulation or development of government policy) applies to some of the information requested because it relates to the development of the Scottish Government’s policy. This relates to the possibility of alcohol being widely available at Scottish football grounds.

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 because there is growing call for alcohol to be available in football grounds as it currently is in rugby grounds. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in that the Scottish Government needs to space to consider options fully in order to support making the right policy decisions.

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 202500449935 - Information released - Redacted correspondence

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