Summerwater film set visit documentation: FOI release

Information requested

All documentation held by the Scottish Government, including correspondence sent and received (including internal), minutes/notes from meetings, briefings and analysis, from John Swinney and Angus Robertson's visit to Summerwater film set on February 17 2025, between February 1 2025 and April 1 2025.

Response

I enclose a copy of most 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 33(1)(b) (prejudice to commercial interests) and 38(1)(b) (personal information of a third party) apply. The reasons why these exemptions are applied is explained below.

Section 33(1)(b) (prejudice to commercial interests): This exemption applies to some of the information requested because disclosure of this would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of a person or company. 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 public interest in release because there is a general public interest in transparent government and information held by the Scottish Government. We recognise that there is an interest into how decisions are reached in this sector and how money is spent by commercial entities operating, or seeking to operate, in Scotland. However on balance, there is a greater public interest in protecting the integrity of this information, so that individuals and companies are not unduly prejudiced in the future and that companies operating within this sector continue to invest.

Section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information of a third party): applies to a small amount 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 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 202500485029 - Information released - Annex

File type

PDF

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238.1 kB