Publication - FOI/EIR release

First Minister's Better Society Academy speech documentation: FOI release

Published: 14 January 2026
Directorate: Lifelong Learning and Skills Directorate
Topic: Education, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202500486929
Date received: 29 September 2025
Date responded: 27 October 2025

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Information requested

All documentation held by the Scottish Government, including correspondence sent and received (including internal), minutes/notes from meetings, briefings and analysis, about John Swinney's speech to the Better Society Academy on May 2 2025, between April 10 2025 and June 1 2025.

Response

I enclose a copy of the information that you in the attached Annex A, B, C and D.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information that you have requested because exemptions under sections 25 (information otherwise accessible); section 30(b)(i) (free and frank provision of advice); section 30(b)(ii) (exchange of views); section 30(c) (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs) and section 38(1) (personal data) of FOISA applies to this information.

For this response we have considered the most recent of the draft series of speeches, as previous versions directly inputted into this later draft. If the earlier drafts were to be considered, section 30(b)(ii) would be applied where relevant. The most recent draft speech is identical to the published version which can be found at Better Society Academy: First Minister's speech - gov.scot, so section 25 has been applied in this case.

Reasons for not providing information

Section 25 (information otherwise accessible)

An exemption under section 25 of FOISA applies to information that can be reasonably obtained without a request being made for it. Relevant web links have been provided to this information. This is an absolute exemption. So, if the information is “otherwise reasonably obtainable” as it is in this case, the Scottish Government does not have to go on to apply the public interest test.

Section 30(b)(i) (free and frank provision of advice)

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 to have a private space within which to provide free and frank advice to Ministers before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. Disclosing the content of free and frank advice will substantially inhibit the provision of such advice in the future.

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 Scottish Government staff can provide full and frank advice to Ministers until the Government as a whole can adopt a policy that is sound and likely to be effective. This private thinking space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, based on the best available advice, so that good policy decisions can be taken. Premature disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between Ministers and officials, which in turn will undermine the quality of the policy making process, which would not be in the public interest.

Section 30(b)(ii) (free and frank exchange of views)

An exemption under section 30(b)(ii) of FOISA (free and frank exchange of views) applies to some of the information requested, including draft news releases. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. This exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to discuss and explore options before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. 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.

Section 30(c) (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs)

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance an exemption under Section 30(c) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. The reason why this exemption applies is because releasing draft briefing, which do not reflect final decisions taken, could undermine the Scottish Government’s ability to effectively and accurately engage and communicate with the public.

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 enabling the Scottish Government to effectively and accurately engage and communicate with the public without the risk of being prejudiced by inaccurate information, which doesn’t reflect final decisions taken.

Section 38(1)(b) (personal information)

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. email addresses and phone numbers and names of civil servants below Senior Civil Service level. Disclosing this information 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. Similar exemptions have been applied to non-civil servants where their details may not already be publicly available

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.