Safe Access Zones Team information and correspondence: FOI release

Information requested

Information in relation to your previous FOI request 202500452918 concerning items from the Safe Access Zones Team shared erdm files and subsequent e-mail and correspondence.

Response

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

Information regarding our response to your request is contained in Annex A, and Annex B holds all the documents.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some the information you have requested because exemptions under the following sections of FOISA apply to that information;

S.38(1)(a) personal information of requestor
S.38(1)(b) third party personal data
S.25(1) otherwise accessible
S.29(1)(a) formulation/development of government policy
S.30(b)(1) substantial inhibition of free and frank advice
s.30(c) substantial prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs

The reasons the exemptions apply are explained below.

The majority of exemptions relate to S.38(1)(b) of FOISA because it is personal data, such as the names and contact details of non-senior Scottish Government staff and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in data protection legislation. 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. In addition, Section 38(1)(a) has also been applied where your name appears on any document.

Three documents have been exempt under section 25(1) because the information is already in the public domain.

There is a single document which has section 29(1)(a) of FOISA applied because this relates to the formulation of government policy. In this case there is a need to protect the deliberations concerning the early development of aspects of the legislation.

In addition, an exemption under section 30(c) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This exemption applies, firstly, because revealing the source of the Scottish Government’s legal advice on the subject of safe access zones would be likely to lead to conclusions being drawn from the fact that any particular lawyer has, or has not, provided advice. This would constitute substantial prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs in terms of the exemption.

For those exemptions under section 30(b)1, the exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to discuss draft legislation and its accompanying documents with colleagues and revise them to ensure the final versions have been fully considered before publication. Disclosing the content of draft documents, where these were amended, could inhibit the ability to gather frank comments and advice on such documents in the future and so would also substantially prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.

The public interest test was applied for exemptions which fall under sections 29 and 30. 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 as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in, firstly, enabling the Scottish Government to determine how and from whom it receives legal advice, without facing external pressure or concerns that particular conclusions may be drawn from the fact that any particular lawyer has or has not provided legal advice on a particular matter. Releasing information about the source of legal advice would also be a breach of the long-standing Law Officer Convention (reflected in the Scottish Ministerial Code) which prevents the Scottish Government from revealing whether Law Officers either have or have not provided legal advice on any matter. Secondly, it is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that key or sensitive draft documents, such as those on safe access zones can be discussed and commented on freely before providing clear and accurate policy or legislative provisions in final versions.

There are 4 documents which you have already received. These are the letters which acknowledge the original request as well as the documents advising you of our response. They have therefore not been included in this response.

Finally we have not supplied screengrabs of the first 5 pages of the ERDM searches as originally requested. This is because the information did not exist before the request was made and therefore would require the creation of new information - this is covered under section 17(1) of FOISA.

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 202500457138 - Information released - ANNEX A

File type

PDF

File size

91.1 kB

FOI 202500457138 - Information released - ANNEX B

File type

PDF

File size

1.2 MB