Work carried out since First Minister’s Botanic Gardens speech in Glasgow: EIR release

Information requested

Could you supply all actions/consequences as well as Scottish Government reviews of John Swinney's speech at Glasgow's Botanic Gardens on 19th February, i.e. all work done after this/all meetings/minutes relating to this speech which were undertaken afterwards?

Could you also supply the full costs of putting on this speech, with a breakdown of costs?

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

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, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

1. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because an exception under regulation 10(4)(e) (internal communications) of the EIRs applies to that information. The reasons why that exception applies are explained in the Annex to this letter.

2. The answer to your second question, relating to the full costs of arranging the speech, is:Venue
(Kibble Palace, Glasgow Botanic Gardens) hire: £664.00
Catering costs: £374.26
Total: £1038.26

REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION
An exception applies

An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs applies to the information you have requested. Regulation 10(4)(e): Internal Communications allows a Scottish public authority to withhold internal communications.

This exception 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 exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception as the documents relate to internal communications and disclosure would have an inhibiting effect on officials capacity to freely exchange views and provide free and frank advice.

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.