Correspondence regarding The Thistle drug consumption room: FOI release

Information requested

Any correspondence sent to or by the First Minister, the Health Secretary, and/or the Alcohol and Drugs Policy Minister or their officials about The Thistle drug consumption room since 1 July 2025. This should include emails from members of the public.

Response

In respect to your request, we have identified and enclosed copies of internal correspondence sent to or by the First Minister, the Health Secretary, and/or the Alcohol and Drugs Policy Minister or their officials that reference The Thistle drug consumption room since 1 July 2025.

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 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 (their names and lived experience) 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.

An exemption under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA (free and frank exchange of views) applies to some of the information you have 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 the Minister to have a private space within which to seek advice and views from officials before reaching a settled public position. Disclosing the content of free and frank briefing material will substantially inhibit such briefing in the future.

An exemption under section 25(1) of FOISA also applies to some of the information you have requested. This is because the information is already reasonably accessible to you. However, for ease of reference, some of the relevant links are provided below:

Thistle Service Data | Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership
Problem drug use in Scotland follow-up: Glasgow’s Safer Drug Consumption Facility
Letter from the Minister for Alcohol and Drugs Policy and Sport on tckling drug deaths and harms
Written question and answer: S6W-40299 | Scottish Parliament Website
Written question and answer: S6W-40694 | Scottish Parliament Website
Written question and answer: S6W-40695 | Scottish Parliament Website
Written question and answer: S6W-40696 | Scottish Parliament Website

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 202500488704 - Information Released - Annex

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