First Minister at National Farmers Union, Scotland (NFU) and Orkney: EIR release

Information requested

Could you supply all documentation held by the Scottish Government, including correspondence sent and received, minutes/notes from meetings, briefings, analysis, about John Swinney's appearance at the NFU Scotland AGM on February 7, from the last three months?

Could you supply all documentation held by the Scottish Government, including correspondence sent and received, minutes/notes from meetings, briefings, analysis, about John Swinney's trip to Orkney on February 10 2025, from the last two months?

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

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, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Response: I attach a copy of most of the documentation you requested in Question 1, as detailed in the specific numbered question attachment.

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 exceptions under regulation 10(4)(e) (internal communications) and regulation 11 (2) (personal information) of the EIRs apply to that information. The reasons why that exceptions apply are explained below in the Annex to this letter.

Response: I attach a copy of most of the documentation you requested in Question 4, as detailed in the specific numbered question attachment.

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 exceptions under regulation 10(4)(e) (internal communications) and regulation 11 (2) (personal information) of the EIRs apply to that information. The reasons why that exceptions apply are explained below in the Annex to this letter.

ANNEX

REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION

Under the EIRs some exceptions apply:

Regulation 10(4)(e) (internal communications):
An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communications) applies to some of the information you have requested because it is internal correspondence and official advice to minister. This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest indisclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. 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 free and frank advice and views to Ministers in briefings in preparation of meetings. It is clearly in the public interest that Ministers can properly provide sound information to Parliament (to which they are accountable), and robustly defend the Government’s policies and decisions. They need full and candid advice from officials to enable them to do so. Premature disclosure of this type of information could lead to a reduction in the comprehensiveness and frankness of such advice and views in the future, which would not be in the public interest.

Regulation 11 (2) (personal information):
An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party 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 exception 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 exception.

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.

EIR 202500455964 - Information Released - Annex

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