Correspondence regarding Former First Minister memoirs: FOI release

Information requested

You requested the following information:

1. Any information held on advice provided to Nicola Sturgeon about the Radcliffe Rules around political memoirs.

2. Whether Nicola Sturgeon has submitted a manuscript of her memoir, Frankly, to the Permanent Secretary for approval under those rules.

3. A copy of any part of the manuscript submitted to the Permanent Secretary.

4. Any correspondence about the above between special advisers, senior civil servants, the Permanent Secretary, and Ms Sturgeon or publishing agents or other individuals acting on behalf of Ms Sturgeon.

Response

Our response to your request is set out below, ordered as set out in your original e-mail:

1. Material considered relevant to your request has been identified and is set out in the Annex to this letter.

2. Former Ministers intending to publish their memoirs should provide a full manuscript to the Permanent Secretary’s Office at least three months before publication date. Ms Sturgeon has acted accordingly and provided her manuscript.

3. 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(s) under section 33(1)(b) (Commercial interests) of FOISA applies to that information.

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.

4. Material considered relevant to your request has been identified and is set out in the Annex to this letter. However, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information, which has been redacted, because exemptions under section 33(1)(b) (Commercial interests) and section 38(1)(b) (Personal data) applies to it. The former 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.

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 202500458988 - Information Released - Annex

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