Walk in GP policy announcement information: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Information requested
Please confirm when the Cabinet were informed of this policy announcement.
Please confirm whether the Royal College of GPs were informed in advance of the announcement.
Please provide correspondence between ministers, civil servants and professional bodies relating to the development and announcement of this policy. This should contain emails, WhatsApps, text messages etc.
Response
This is a formal notice under section 17 of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested this is because Cabinet minutes provide a full account of actions but are not a verbatim record. As such, it is not always possible to determine with certainty when a particular topic has been discussed at Cabinet. The Cabinet discusses the health service on a regular basis.
The Scottish Government does not have the information you requested about the Royal College of GPs.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because an exemption under section 29(1)(a) (formulation or development of government policy) of FOISA applies to that information. This exemption applies as the documents within scope is pre-policy advice to ministers. Exemptions also apply under Section 30(b) - free and frank provision of advice or exchange of views and Section 38(1)(b) – personal information.
Information is exempt under section 29(1)(a) if it relates to the formulation or development of government policy. This means any policy of the Scottish Administration, but includes UK Government policy if created before 1 July 1999. 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.
Information is exempt under sections 30(b) if disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice. 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.
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. 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
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Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG