National Trust funding communications: FOI release

Information requested

All communication between National Trust run estates which received money from the Government and all communication between National Trust run estates which applied for money from Government but were turned down. Only in time of COVID lockdown period.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested in the form of PDFs containing the correspondence.

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 of exemptions under sections s.38(1)(b) (personal information) and s.33(1)(b) (commercial interests) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply is explained in the Annex to this letter.

Annex

An exemption applies

An exemption(s) under section s.38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This exemption applies to the personal data of individuals and includes names, email addresses and phone numbers. Where this exemption applies, we have released redacted versions of the correspondence.

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.

An exemption applies, subject to the public interest test

An exemption under section s.33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This exemption applies to information which has a commercial interest, and disclosing the information may have a prejudicial effect.

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 some public interest in release due to the importance of government transparency. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in protecting commercial interests.

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 202500486422 - Information released - Documents

File type

PDF

File size

2.0 MB