Money provided to Inverclyde Council to help with the closure of Amazon and EE facilities in Greenock: FOI release

Information requested

How much money has the Scottish Government provided to Inverclyde Council to help with the closure of Amazon and EE facilities in Greenock, with a breakdown where this money went?

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because of an exemption under section 17 (1) (b) (Notice that information is not held).

You have asked for how much money the Scottish Government has provided Inverclyde Council in relation to the closure of Amazon and EE Facilities in Greenock.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information as no money was allocated to Inverclyde Council to directly help with the closure of Amazon and EE facilities in Greenock. Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) support was offered to employees affected by the closures, however any money paid out comes from the PACE budget which comes from the block Skills Development Scotland (SDS) grant and is paid directly to employees, not councils. No additional funding was provided by the Scottish Government beyond the £227 million provided as part of the Local Government Settlement.

Reasons for not providing information

An exemption applies

An exemption under section s.17 (1) (b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. S.17 details a notice that information is not held. In this instance, information is not held, as stated, because the Scottish Government did not provided any additional funding to Inverclyde Council and support was provided through PACE, direct to employees.

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.

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.