Whole family support documentation: FOI release

Information requested

You clarified that you were seeking the following information: “Could you supply all documentation held by the Scottish Government's Public Service Reform Directorate, including correspondence sent and received (including internal), minutes/notes from meetings, briefings and analysis, which mentions "whole family support" from the last month. Specifically the documentation relating to the specific Programme for Government commitment to address barriers to delivery such as greater flexibility in funding, streamlining reporting and enabling data sharing improvements.”

Response

The Programme for Government publication set out the Scottish Government’s commitment to increase local flexibility and integrate policy to deliver Whole Family Support. Whole Family Support seeks to enable families to access the support they need, where and when they need it – with services designed to respond immediately, reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and wrapping the support around them.

Your request has been interpreted as seeking information specifically in relation to the work being undertaken by the Public Service Reform Directorate regarding Whole Family Support in furtherance of the Programme for Government commitment. Information that we have deemed out of scope of the request would be information which does not mention ‘Whole Family Support’ or relates to policies led by other areas of Scottish Government which may feed into the Whole Family Support approach but do not specifically link to the work set out in the Programme for Government.

Whole Family Support policy is still under development therefore we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested particularly in relation to policy papers because exemptions apply, particularly section 29(1)(a) (formulation of Government policy), section 30(b)(i) (free and frank provision of advice) and section 30(b)(ii) (free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation) of FOISA. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in the Annex to this letter.

A number of documents are released as part of this request – particularly email exchanges and a presentation on Whole Family Support. Within the email exchanges, some exemptions have been applied and those exemptions are notated within the document for ease of reference. A further exemption has been applied within the emails namely section 38(1)(b) which relates to disclosure of personal information. Where this exemption has been applied, a notation is provided on the nature of the personal information which has been redacted for ease of reference.

ANNEX

REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION

An exemption applies

Exemptions under sections 38(1)(b) (personal data relating to third party) of FOISA apply to some of the information you have requested. These exemptions apply to personal data such as names, phone numbers and email addresses and therefore disclosing the personal data would contravene data protection principles in UK General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and may result in harm if published.

These exemptions are 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

Exemptions under sections 30(b)(i) (free and frank provision of advice), 30(b)(ii) (free and frank exchange of views) apply to some of the information you have requested that constitutes advice or an exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. Exemption Section 29(1)(a) (the formulation or development of government policy) of FOISA also applies to some of the information you have requested that constitutes the development of new government policy.

These 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 maintaining the exemptions. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of maintaining the exemptions. We recognise that there is a public interest in release because disclosure would enhance public scrutiny and understanding of the processes involved in developing government policy. However, our judgement is that this is outweighed by the public interest in the ability of officials to provide uninhibited and effective development of policy.

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FOI 202500491842 - Information Released - Documents

File type

PDF

File size

4.7 MB