Bute House press conference documentation: FOI Review

Information requested

Original request 202500483012

Information and documentation relating to the Bute House Press conference on 14 April 2025.

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for information and documentation relating to the Bute House Press conference on 14 April 2025.

I have been asked to re-examine your request, to decide whether the original response should be confirmed, with or without modifications, as appropriate, or a fresh decision be substituted. I can confirm that I was not involved in the handling or decision-making around the original response. I have considered this case again, and have conducted a comprehensive review of the response.

I have concluded that a different decision should be substituted and that section 17(1) of FOISA should not have been applied.

After revisiting the initial request, fresh searches established that there was information held that was previously not provided. Please accept my apologies that this was not provided in our previous response.

This information is in the form of three email trails and one media advisory notice. Two relevant releases Preparing Scotland for the future - gov.scot and First Minister: Scotland must be resilient in face of global shocks - gov.scot are available on the Scottish Government website and therefore already in the public domain.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, ie names/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. As such this information has been redacted.

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 30(b)(i) (free and frank advice and exchange of views) and 30(c) of FOISA (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) apply to some of the information requested.

These exemptions apply to First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) briefing documents attached to one of the email trails released. Disclosure of these would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice and exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation, and have a prejudicial effect on the effective conduct of public affairs within the Scottish Government. The exemptions recognise the need for Ministers to have a private space within which to seek advice and views from officials before reaching the settled public position, which will be given in whatever final Parliamentary answer or public statement Ministers then give.

Disclosing the content and structure of free and frank briefing material provided to the First Minister for FMQs would substantially inhibit such briefing in the future, particularly because the provision of advice and discussions on issues are still ongoing, final decisions may have not been taken, and these discussions often relate to evolving and sensitive issues such as those raised at FMQs.

The above 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 exemptions. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption for the advice.

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 a private space within which officials can provide free and frank advice and views to Ministers in briefing for FMQs, and therefore ensuring the effective conduct of public affairs. It is clearly in the public interest that Ministers can properly answer Parliamentary questions, provide sound information to Parliament (to which they are accountable), and robustly defend the Government’s policies and decisions. They need full and candid advice from officials to enable them to do so. Premature disclosure of this type of information could lead to a reduction in the comprehensiveness and frankness of such advice and views in the future, which would not be in the public interest.

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 202500485766 - Information released - Document

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PDF

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743.0 kB