First Minister visit to Heineken's Edinburgh office: 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 John Swinney opening Heineken's new Edinburgh offices on May 5, between April 1 2025 and May 31 2025."

Response

I enclose a copy of the information you requested.

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)(i) (free and frank provision of advice), s.30(c)(substantial prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs), s.33(1)(b) (commercial interests) and s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions applies are explained below.

An exemption under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA (free and frank provision of advice) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies 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 to ministers will substantially inhibit the provision of such advice in the future, particularly because officials need this space to be protected to allow them to provide candid advice and if this were to be disclosed, it would diminish future advice provided to Ministers.

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, this is outweighed by the public interest in providing Ministers and Scottish Government officials space to provide advice within which officials can provide full and frank advice to Ministers, so that effective decisions can be taken.

An exemption under section 30(c) of FOISA (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) applies to some of the information requested and has been redacted accordingly. It is essential for Ministers to be able to communicate and meet, often in confidence, with external stakeholders on a range of issues. Disclosing the content of these communications, particularly without the consent of the stakeholder, is likely to undermine their trust in the Scottish Government and will substantially inhibit communications on this type of issue in the future. These stakeholders will be reluctant to provide their views fully and frankly if they believe that their views are likely to be made public, particularly while these discussions relate to individual business’s strategies and decisions. This would significantly harm the Government’s ability to carry out many aspects of its work, and could adversely affect its ability to gather all of the evidence it needs to make fully informed decisions.

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 communicate and meet with appropriate external stakeholders as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government’s position, until the Government as a whole can adopt a decision that is sound and likely to be effective. This private space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, so that good decisions can be taken based on fully informed advice and evidence. Premature 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.

An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA (commercial interests) applies to some of the information requested and has been redacted accordingly. This exemption applies because it is commercial information of a third party and disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the confidentiality of commercial information relative to an individual business and thus cause harm to commercial interests.

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 and transparent government however, this is outweighed by the public interest in protecting the commercial interests of businesses.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. the names 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 information has been redacted accordingly.

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.

FOI 202500483651 - Information released - Annex

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