Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills correspondence containing specific phrases: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for any correspondence sent to or by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, and/or the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, that contains the phrase(s) “bullet points”, “laminated”, “hand signals” and/or “eye contact” since 1 January 2025. On 26 June 2025 you clarified that this request related to references in relation to the ‘Fostering a positive, inclusive and safe school environment’ document.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested within the Annex.

An exemption under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA (free and frank provision of advice) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to provide free and frank advice to Ministers before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view, including in relation to matters which are sensitive. Disclosing the content of free and frank advice on the Fostering positive, inclusive and safe school environment’ will substantially inhibit the provision of such advice in the future, particularly given the political and media interest in matters relating to relationships and behaviour in schools.

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 position on relationships and behaviour in schools, until the Government as a whole can adopt a position 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 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 making process, which would not be in the public interest.

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, namely, name 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.

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FOI 202500471683 - Information Released - Annex

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