Clarification on the meaning of "draft sub": FOI release

Information requested

With reference to your previous request under FOISA (reference 202500449875), you asked for:

1) On page 28, what is meant by "draft sub on Hamilton"?

2) I request the "draft sub on Hamilton" and/or the eventual finished "sub on Hamilton".

Response

The answer to your first question is that a "draft sub" is a draft submission.

In response to your second question, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, under section 14(2) of FOISA a public authority is not required to comply with a request for information if it is identical or substantially similar to a request which it has already complied with, unless a reasonable amount of time has elapsed between the two requests. This request is substantially similar to your previous request which we complied with on 9 April 2025.

The finalised submission is contained within the documents released, namely the submission from David Rogers to the Deputy First Minister of 13 March 2021 (incorrectly dated as 13 March 2020 at the time of its creation).

The Scottish Information Commissioner's guidance on repeated requests at:
http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/Law/FOISA-EIRsGuidance/Section14/Section14Overview.aspx says that in considering whether a reasonable period of time has elapsed between the previous request and the new request, there are two questions which will help the authority:

(i) has the information changed?
(ii) have the circumstances changed?

In this case, the information we hold is the same as at the time of your previous request. We have also considered the circumstances and have concluded that there has been no significant change. For these reasons, we consider that your request is repeated and we are not obliged to comply with it.

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.