Impact Assessments for school guidance correspondence: FOI release

Information requested

1. A copy of any internal correspondence between Scottish Government officials detailing the requirement and any considerations related to the need for an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) and Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) for the Fostering a Positive, Inclusive and Safe School Environment guidance and Schools - violent, aggressive and dangerous behaviour: risk assessment guidance: both published on 17 June 2025.

2. I would also like to request a copy of any correspondence related to the timeline for commencing the above 2 impact assessments, including the decision to set the publication many months after the guidance was issued for use by local authorities and schools.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested in the attached enclosures.

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 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA 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.

In addition, we are also unable to provide some of the information you requested as some documents are due to be published within 12 weeks of the date of your request. An exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA (information intended for future publication) therefore applies. We consider that it is reasonable to withhold the information until that date, rather than release this routinely published information before the planned publication date.

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 of this information in relation to transparency around the development of guidance, and this will be met by our planned publication. In the meantime, there is a greater public interest in taking the time necessary to publish these materials in their complete and finalised form, in line with our standard publishing procedures. Also, we see no public interest in disrupting our programme of work to release the information ahead of the intended publication date.

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FOI 202500480478 - Information released - Enclosures

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