Drugs Policy Division and Alcohol Harm Prevention Team staff numbers: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Information requested
1. How many staff are working in the government's alcohol and drugs harm team?
3. Could you supply all documentation held by the government, including correspondence sent and received (including internal), minutes/notes from meetings, briefings, analysis, about the right to recovery bil, from the last three months?
4. Could you supply all documentation held by the government, including correspondence sent and received (including internal), minutes/notes from meetings, briefings, analysis, about The National Drug Deaths Mission, from the last three months?
5. Could you supply all documentation held by the government, including correspondence sent and received (including internal), minutes/notes from meetings, briefings, analysis about nitazene, from the last three months?
Response
Please note that another part of your request (part 2) was assigned to a different area of the Scottish Government for response.
In relation to part 1 of your request, the answer to your question is that there are currently 48.7 full-time equivalent staff working across Drugs Policy Division and the Alcohol Harm Prevention Team.
In relation to part 3 of your request, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. This is because we hold a substantial number of documents relating to your request. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.
You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. You may wish to narrow the timeframe of your request or to specify the specific type of documentation you are interested in. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx.
In relation to part 4 of your request, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. This is because the National Mission on Drugs covers the majority of the work undertaken by the Scottish Government's Drugs Policy Division. Therefore, the number of documents we hold relating to your request is substantial. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.
You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. You may wish to provide a more specific topic in which you are interested. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx.
In relation to part 5 of your request, I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested.
Some of the information you have requested is available from the following websites: a) About this release - Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) quarterly report - April 2025 - Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) quarterly report - Publications - Public Health Scotland; b) Learning from 25 years of preventative interventions in Scotland - gov.scot; and c) Future Trends for Scotland: findings from the 2024-2025 horizon scanning project - gov.scot. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections s. 27(1) (information intended for future publication), s. 29(1)(a) (formulation or development of Scottish Government policy),s. 30(b)(i) (free and frank provision of advice), s. 30(b)(ii) (free and frank exchange of views), and s. 38(1)(b) (personal data relating to third party) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why those exemptions apply are explained below.
An exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is because we intend to publish this information within 12 weeks of the date you made your request.
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 some public interest in release because of an interest in open and transparent government, and this will be met by our planned publication. In the meantime, there is a greater public interest in taking the time necessary to ensure the information has been properly collated and checked before it is published as planned.
An exemption under section 29(1)(a) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is because it relates to the formulation of Scottish Government policy.
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 some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government. However, there is greater public interest in high quality policy and decision-making, and in the properly considered implementation and development of policies and decisions. This means that officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications.
An exemption under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is 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. Disclosing the content of free and frank advice will substantially inhibit the provision of such advice in the future, particularly because these discussions relate to a sensitive issue such as drug harms.
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 some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government. 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 response to drug harms. 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. 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 decision making process, which would not be in the public interest.
An exemption under section 30(b)(ii) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. This exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to discuss issues and options both internally and with external stakeholders. Disclosing the content of these discussions with public health stakeholders will substantially inhibit such discussions in the future, because these stakeholders will be reluctant to provide their views fully and frankly if they believe that those views are likely to be made public, particularly while these discussions relate to a sensitive issue such as drug harms. This exemption also recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to discuss and explore options before reaching a settled view.
Disclosing the content of free and frank discussions will substantially inhibit such discussions in the future.
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 some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing officials a private space within which to communicate internally and with appropriate external stakeholders as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government's response to drug harms. This private space is essential to enable all issues and options to be properly considered, so that good decisions can be taken based on fully informed advice and evidence, such as that provided by public health stakeholders. Disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between the Scottish Government and these stakeholders, which in turn will undermine the quality of the decision making process, which would not be in the public interest. There is also a public interest in avoiding information being released without the proper context, which may cause unnecessary alarm and misinterpretation.
An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is 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.
Our aim is to provide information whenever possible. However, in this instance, some of the information you have requested is not held by the Scottish Government for the purposes of FOISA because we received it in confidence from the UK Government. This means that, under the terms of section 3(2)(a)
(ii) of FOISA, we are unable to disclose it in response to your request. However, you may wish to submit a new request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) to the Home Office at foirequests@homeoffice.gov.uk who should be able to help you further.
About FOI
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Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG