Ministerial correspondence relating to the Scottish Government’s National Treatment Centres: FOI Review

Information requested

Orignal request: 202500448625

I am looking for all written communication, including associated briefings, to and from Ministers since 1 September 2024 to most recent relating to the Scottish Government’s National Treatment Centres.

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for:

Please can you advise when this information will be available?.

Further to my letter of 24 March 2025 I have now completed my review of our failure to respond to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) from your initial request with reference 202500448625

In accordance with section 21(4) of FOISA, I have also reached a decision on your request.

I apologise for the delay in responding to your initial request this is due to the large number of documents we have proposed to release. As a result of this the process of clearing the response with relevant parties has unfortunately taken longer than we would have liked.

I can now provide our response to your original request.

Your review request asked

“Please can you advise when this information will be available?“

Your original request asked for “I am looking for all written communication, including associated briefings, to and from Ministers since 1 September 2024 to most recent relating to the Scottish Government’s National Treatment Centres.”.

Following on from your initial request with reference 202500448625, I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested in the attached documents.

Document number	Document title
01	Extract of Briefing for the First Minister - Meeting with NHS FV - Monday 2 Dec 2024
02	Briefing for the First Minister - Opening NTC Golden Jubilee - Mon 9 Dec 2024
03	Collated Policy Lead Emails
04	Collated Health and Social Care Comms Emails
05	NTC Golden Jubilee - FM visit - ops note
06	Briefing - Cab Sec visit to FVRH - 23 January 2025
07	Cabinet Secretary HSC - Briefing Pack - PAEP visit - 26 September 2024
08	Collated Cab Sec Health and Social Care Emails
09	PQ S6O-03794 - AA Capital
10	10 Deputy Director Health Infrastructure and Sustainability Collated Emails
11	2024-25- Health Infrastructure - NTC programme- FV update - Sep 24
12	Extract from Background note to S6W-32929 15 Jan 2025

Exemptions apply under sections s.30 (b)(i) & s.38(1) (b) of FOISA to some of the information you have requested. Further information can be found in Appendix A.

Appendix A

REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION

An exemption applies, subject to the public interest test

Section 30(b)(i) – free and frank provision of advice

Exemptions under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA (free and frank provision of advice) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption recognises the need for Ministers to have a private space within which to seek advice and views from officials before reaching the settled public position. Disclosing the content of free and frank briefing material provided by boards relating to capital spending, construction and workforce will substantially inhibit such briefing in the future, particularly because discussions on the issue relate to a commercially sensitive and ongoing matter. 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 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 full and frank advice to Ministers as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government’s policy, until the Government as a whole can adopt a policy decision that is sound and likely to be effective. This private thinking space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, based on the best available advice, so that good policy decisions can be taken. Premature disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between Ministers and officials, which in turn will undermine the quality of the policy decision making process, which would not be in the public interest.

An exemption applies

Section 38(1)(b) – applicant has asked for 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.

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 202500459137 - Information released - Annex A

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