First Minister and President of the United States meeting information: FOI release

Information requested

The agenda, ministerial briefing, attendance list, location, list of refreshments provided, minute or government record of the meeting, and time of the meeting between the First Minister and President Trump in Menie on both July 28 and 29th.

Any internal or external communications about the meetings, including its organisation, any discussion about its content, or the content or the briefing to the First Minister, and any communications plan around the meeting.

Response

The agenda, ministerial briefing, attendance list, location, list of refreshments provided, minute or government record of the meeting, and time of the meeting between the First Minister and President Trump in Menie on both July 28 and 29th.

With regards to the times of the meetings between the First Minister and President Trump, the meeting on Monday 28 July took place at 18:00 at MacLeod House and the meeting on Tuesday 29 July took place at 09:00 at MacLeod House.

While our aim is to provide information wherever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you requested.

The Scottish Government does not hold a list of refreshment as neither of the meetings were hosted by the Scottish Government and no costs were incurred.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

With regards to the briefing and minute of the meetings, I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. This can be found at Annex A.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested.

An exemption under section 30(b)(i), free and frank provision of advice, of FOISA applies to some of the information that you requested. The reason section 30(b) applies to the information requested is because disclosure of information would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice.

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 exemptions. 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 disclosing information on UK relations as part of open government and transparency. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in protecting free and frank exchange of advice that enables Ministers and officials to conduct business and come to decisions, releasing advice provided would disrupt this process.

An exemption under section 30(b)(ii) of FOISA (free and frank exchange of views) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies 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 Ministers and officials to have a private space within which to discuss and explore options before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. Disclosing the content of free and frank discussions will substantially inhibit such discussions in the future, particularly because these discussions relate to a sensitive or controversial issue.

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 Ministers and officials a private space within which to explore and refine the Government’s position certain issues, 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, 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 decision-making process, which would not be in the public interest.

An exemption under section 32(1)(a), international relations, of FOISA applies to some of the information that you requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially relations between the UK and another state and the promotion or protection by the UK of its interests abroad.

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 ensuring the protection of the Uk’s interests abroad.

An exemption under section 33(1)(b), commercial interests, of FOISA applies to some of the information you requested. The reason section 33(1)(b) applies to the information requested is because disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person. “Person” includes a public authority, company and partnership.

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 exemptions. 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 disclosing information as part of open government and transparency. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring the smooth and safe operation of the commercial interests of Scottish organisations.

Any internal or external communications about the meetings, including its organisation, any discussion about its content, or the content or the briefing to the First Minister, and any communications plan around the meeting.

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. The reason for this is that in order to locate and retrieve that information, we would need to conduct a search of all records held by the Scottish Government.

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. For example, you could restrict your request to a specific business area of the Scottish Government, as this would allow us to limit the searches that would require to be conducted. 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.

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 202500479373 - Information released - Annex A

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