Humanitarian spend on Democratic Republic Of Congo crisis documentation: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for "all documentation held by the Scottish Government, including correspondence sent and received (including internal), minutes/notes from meetings, briefings and analysis, about £250k of funding going to Congo, between June 1 2025 and the date of this FOI?

https://www.gov.scot/news/helping-crisis-hit-communities-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo/"

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested, as a PDF.

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.30(b) (free and frank provision of advice or exchange of views), s.38(1)(b) (personal information) and s.33(1)(b) (Substantial prejudice to commercial interests) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained below.

Exemptions under section s.38(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. 

This is because it includes personal data such as names, mobile numbers and email addresses of one or more third party individuals.

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.

Exemptions under sections s.30(b) and s.33(1)(b) of FOISA apply to some of the information you have requested. Section 33(1)(b) applies because some of the information includes sensitive commercial information from and about the member organisations of the Humanitarian Emergency Fund Panel, primarily Tearfund and Oxfam. Section 30(b) applies because some of the information includes exchanges on sensitive topics for the purposes of deliberation or providing advice to Scottish Ministers and to Scottish Government officials.

These exemptions are 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 exemptions. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because of interest in open and transparent government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in officials being able to deliberate and to give and receive advice in order to support the operation of the Scottish Government humanitarian funding mechanism, as well as maintaining the competitive nature of this function and public interest in the successful operation of organisations in the humanitarian sector across Scotland.

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 202500482900 - Information Released - Annex

File type

PDF

File size

1.1 MB