Mansion tax documentation: FOI release

Information requested

All documentation held by the Scottish Government, including correspondence sent and received (including internal), minutes/notes from meetings, briefings and analysis about a mansion tax, from the last two months.

Response

Under the terms of your request, I should clarify that the scope of this FOI relates specifically to Scottish Government work on the proposal to introduce new high value Council Tax bands for the most high-value properties within the existing Council Tax system. This includes material concerning the consideration, development, or analysis of that specific proposal during the period covered by your request. For the avoidance of doubt, the scope does not include any work associated with wider Council Tax reform, including consultation activity, engagement events, analysis of consultation responses, or deliberations on longer-term structural reform undertaken jointly with COSLA. Since we received your request on 6 January 2026, the two month period under the terms of your request covers documentation held which was produced on or after 6 November 2025.

Please see the Annex which sets out the documents that have been attached to your response, that are within the scope of your request. Information which is not in scope has been redacted.

The aim of the Scottish Government is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information under the terms of your request because some of that information is exempt under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

The following FOISA exemptions have been applied to some of the information in the response issued to you. These are:

Section 29(1)(a) – formulation or development of government policy

An exemption under section 29(1)(a) of FOISA (formulation or development of government policy) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption covers material, set out in the table above, contained in policy submissions, briefings, and internal communications between officials and Ministers’ private office which relates to the process of formulating or developing the Scottish Government’s policy position. The information withheld falls within this category because it forms part of ongoing internal policy development work. As section 29(1)(a) is a qualified exemption, we have considered the public interest test and have concluded that, on balance, the public interest lies in withholding this information. While there is a public interest in openness and transparency, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that Ministers and officials have a private space to consider and discuss policy options before decisions are taken.

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 applies to some of the information set out in the table contained in internal communications, briefings, and policy documents where officials have provided advice to Ministers, particularly in relation to ongoing policy development. This exemption applies when disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice. It recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to provide free and frank advice to Ministers before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view.

Section 38(1)(b) – applicant has asked for personal data of a third party

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, i.e. names/contact details of individuals, 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.

Section 25(1) – information otherwise accessible

An exemption under section 25(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information requested. Section 25(1) provides that information is exempt from disclosure where the applicant can reasonably obtain it without making a request under FOISA. The information to which this exemption applies was attached to document reference EL002 but has been withheld because it is otherwise publicly available. Specifically, it is available in “Strategic Overview of the Budget 2026-27, Spending Review and Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline”, contained within the Scottish Budget 2026-27, Spending Review and Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline: Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment”, which is published on the Scottish Government website.

As this information is already accessible the Scottish Government is not required to provide it again in this response. This exemption is absolute and is not subject to the public interest test.

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 202600500301 - Information released - Annex

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66.7 kB

FOI 202600500301 - Information released - Documents

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1.1 MB