Meetings of Short Life Working Group on the Supreme Court Judgment in FWS vs Scottish Ministers: FOI release

Information requested

The following information:

“1. Copies of all minutes from meetings of the (Short Life) Working Group on the Scottish Government's response to the Supreme Court judgment in FWS Vs. Scottish Ministers.

2. Copies of all agendas, briefings, discussion papers, consultation documents, presentations etc. discussed at these meetings, sent out by the WG, and received by the WG.”

Response

In relation to the Working Group on the Supreme Court judgment in FWS Vs. Scottish Ministers, I am using the date range of the 30 April 2025 when the Working Group convened and the date of this request (16 January 2026). I will respond to your requests individually.

1. Minutes from the meetings

For the meetings held between the 30 April 2025 and the 20 November 2026, all of the information you have requested is available from UK Supreme Court Judgment (For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers): working group - gov.scot Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

In relation to the meetings held on the 4 December 2025 and 15 January 2026, an exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applied to the above information you have requested because we intend to publish that information within 12 weeks of the date of your request.

1. Agendas, briefings, discussions papers, consultation documents, presentations discussed, sent out or received by the Working Group

For any documents that were discussed, sent or received between the 30 April 2025 and the 25 June 2025, all of the information you have requested is available from previous FOI requests Short life working group information: FOI release - gov.scot and Short life working group information: FOI Review - gov.scot. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

For any documents that were discussed, sent or received between the 26 June 2025 and the 16 January 2026 I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested in the format of a compiled word document of meeting agenda’s and briefings shared with the Working Group.

In relation to the agenda’s and briefings, four exemptions have been used in relation to some of the detail in these documents;

• An exemption under section 28(1) of FOISA (relations within the UK) applies. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially relations between the Scottish Government and the UK Government.
• An exemption Section 36(1) (Claim to confidentiality of communications) has been used where Information relates to the provision of advice by any of the Scottish Government Law Directorate
• An exemption under section 30(b)(ii) of FOISA (free and frank exchange of views) and;
• An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party.

Exemption Explanations

Exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applied to information you have requested is because this information is intend to be published within 12 weeks of the date of your request. The Scottish Government intends to publish the Minutes of each of the Working Group’s meetings to maintain transparency. As this information will be published within the 12 weeks of the date of your request we consider it reasonable to withhold the information rather than release the information requested before it has been published.

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 some public interest in releasing the information requested to be transparent. However, given that the information requested will be subject to release within the appropriate timeframe we do not consider that the public interest in releasing the information immediately outweighs the public interest in the administrative process running its course.

An exemption under section 28(1) of FOISA (relations within the UK) applies. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially relations between the Scottish Government and the UK Government. It is essential for the effective administration of the UK as a whole that there should be regular, and often private, communications between the Scottish Government, the UK Government and the other devolved administrations.

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 maintaining good relations between the Scottish Government and the UK Government, and in protecting the free exchange of information between the administrations to ensure that we keep each other fully and regularly informed about matters of mutual interest. There is no public interest in disclosing information when that will damage relationships and disrupt future communications.

Exemption Section 36(1)) (Claim to confidentiality of communications) has been used where Information relates to the provision of advice by the Scottish Government Legal Directorate or any request for the provision of advice by the Scottish Government Legal Directorate.

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.

Exemption under section 30(b)(ii) of FOISA (free and frank exchange of views) applies to some of the information requested. 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 issues and options with external stakeholders before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. Disclosing the content of these discussions will substantially inhibit such discussions in the future, because these stakeholders will be reluctant to provide their views fully and frankly if they believe that those views are likely to be made 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 allowing Ministers and officials a private space within which to communicate with appropriate external stakeholders as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government’s policy or position until the Government as a whole can adopt a policy or decision that is sound and likely to be effective. This private space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, so that good policy decisions can be taken based on fully informed advice and evidence. Premature disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between the Scottish Government and these stakeholders, which in turn will undermine the quality of the policy or decision making process, which would not be in the public interest.

Exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, ie names, 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.

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 202600501935 - Information Released - Annex

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