Scottish Budget 2026 to 2027 correspondence: FOI release

Information requested

The following requests have been allocated to the Director General Exchequer, Strategy and Performance for handling:

1. Could you supply all documentation held by the government, including minutes/notes from meetings, briefings, correspondence sent and received (including internal), analysis, about planned Scottish Parliament questions for the Budget announcement on January 13, between January 1 2026 and January 15 2026?

2. How much did it cost to translate the Budget 2026/27 into Gaelic and breakdown of these costs?

[Question 3 is being dealt with in a separate response]

4. Could you supply a full list of all corrections made to the original Budget document published on January 13, and why the corrections were made, including any correspondence sent to or from the government regarding the corrections?

5. Could you supply all correspondence sent to the government from external people or organisations about the 2026/27 Budget, between January 12 2026 and the date of this FOI?
[We have understood this period to be 12 January to 20 January 2026.]

The other requests included in your email will be responded to by other areas of the Scottish Government.
The responses are set out below.

Response

1. Could you supply all documentation held by the government, including minutes/notes from meetings, briefings, correspondence sent and received (including internal), analysis, about planned Scottish Parliament questions for the Budget announcement on January 13, between January 1 2026 and January 15 2026?

Response to your request
I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested in annex A.

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 exemptions under sections s.30(b)(i) (provision of free and frank exchange of advice) and s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA apply to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply is explained below.

Exemptions under section 30b(i) of FOISA (free and frank exchange of advice) apply to some of the information requested. These exemptions apply because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice. The exemption recognises the need for Ministers to have a private space within which to seek advice from officials, in this instance regarding the handling of parliamentary questions. Disclosing the content of free and frank advice will substantially inhibit such information in the future.

This exemption is subject to the public interest and prejudice test. 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 exemptions. 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 a private space within which officials can provide free and frank advice and views to Ministers. Disclosure of this type of information could lead to a reduction in the comprehensiveness and frankness of such advice and views in the future, which would not be in the public interest as it would substantially prejudice the ability of Ministers to engage with Scottish Government officials.

Section 38(1)(b) – Personal Data
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, i.e. names and contact details, 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.

Your request
2. How much did it cost to translate the Budget 2026/27 into Gaelic and breakdown of these costs?

Response to your request
The Scottish Government did not translate the 2026-27 Scottish Budget into Gaelic. In the interests of transparency, the principal Scottish Budget news release was translated into Gaelic. However, this was carried out in house by the Scottish Government Gaelic & Scots Division, and therefore no specific breakdown of costs can be assigned to that work.

Your request
4. Could you supply a full list of all corrections made to the original Budget document published on January 13, and why the corrections were made, including any correspondence sent to or from the government regarding the corrections?

Response to your request
No changes were made to the original Scottish Budget document published on 13 January 2026 within the date range covered by your request. However, in the interests of transparency, I would note that a small number of factual clarifications were made on 26 January 2026. These are published openly as an erratum on the Scottish Government website at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget- 2026-2027/

The related correspondence to the Finance and Public Administration Committee, setting out the nature of these clarifications, is available on the Scottish Parliament website at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/committees/current-and-previous- committees/session-6-finance-and-public-administration-committee/correspondence/2026/budget- scrutiny-202627-letter-of-26-january-2026

Your request
5. Could you supply all correspondence sent to the government from external people or organisations about the 2026/27 Budget, between January 12 2026 and the date of this FOI?

Response to your request
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. The reason for this is that to locate and retrieve that information we would need to conduct a search of all of the records of the Scottish Government. Under Section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can brought below £600. For example, you could restrict your request to a specific business area of the Scottish Government, as this would allow us to limit the searches that would require to be conducted.

You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspxbe

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 202600502416 - Information Released - Annex

File type

PDF

File size

197.6 kB