Abolition of peak ScotRail fares correspondence: FOI release

Information requested

Could you supply all correspondence sent and received about the abolition of peak ScotRail fares, as well as minutes/or notes from meetings held about this and briefings, from the last two months?

Response

Please see documents attached to this letter which include correspondence falling in the scope of your request.

While we aim to provide information wherever possible, some of the information in the attached documents has been withheld under sections 38(1)(a) and (b).

Section 38(1)(b) – Personal data of a third party

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested 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.

Section 38(1)(a) of FOISA – Personal data of the applicant

An exemption under section 38(1)(a) of FOISA applies to some the information requested because it contains your own information which cannot be released to you under FOISA as 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.

It might be worth to explain that ‘personal data related to the applicant’ means any information by which you could be identified when the response to your request is published on the Scottish Government’s website.

Should you wish to access the information held within scope of the request that contains your own personal data then you can do so by making a subject access request to us under the Data Protection Act 2018. This ensures that the information is disclosed only to you and therefore is kept private.

The information that has been redacted has been clearly marked with the relevant exemption i.e. 38(1) (a).

The remaining information that has been redacted is that which falls into the exemption of section 38(1) (b) – third party personal data.

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 202500456576 - Information released - Documents

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