Credit rating meeting with employees of Moody's Corporation: FOI Review

Information requested

Original request: 202500493822

Please provide all Scottish Government correspondence with employees of the credit rating agency Moody’s, 18th October 2023 - date.

Please also provide all documentation relating to meetings (in person or virtual) with employees of Moody’s, 18th October 2023 - date. This should include agendas, minutes, presentations, notes, and any other relevant documents.

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information(Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for FOI 202500493822 requesting:

Please provide all Scottish Government correspondence with employees of the credit rating agency Moody’s, 18th October 2023 - date.

Please also provide all documentation relating to meetings (in person or virtual) with employees of Moody’s, 18th October 2023 - date. This should include agendas, minutes, presentations, notes, and any other relevant documents.

In accordance with section 21(4) of FOISA, I have also reached a decision on your request. We apologise for the delay in responding to your initial request.

I can now provide our response to your original request. I enclose a copy of the information you requested.

In regard to your request for correspondence with employees of the credit rating agency Moody’s - 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(s) under section(s) s33(1)(b) (Substantial prejudice to commercial interests), s.38(1)(b) (personal information), of FOISA applies to that information.

In regard to your request for all documentation relating to meetings (in person or virtual) with employees of Moody’s - The presentation you have requested is available here - Credit rating agency meeting presentation - 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.

Please find attached a note of the credit rating meeting with employees of Moody’s. 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 an exemption(s) under s.30(c) Otherwise prejudice effective conduct of public affairs and s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information.

ANNEX

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested

The Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have asked for because we do not hold this information. As such, I hereby provide you with formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.

Section 30(c) – substantial prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs [in relation to communications/meetings with external stakeholders]

An exemption under section 30(c) of FOISA (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) applies to some of the information requested. It is essential for officials to be able to communicate often in confidence, with external stakeholders on a range of issues. Disclosing the content of these communications, particularly without the consent of the stakeholder, is likely to undermine their trust in the Scottish Government and will substantially inhibit communications on this type of issue in the future. These stakeholders will be reluctant to provide their views fully and frankly if they believe that their views are likely to be made public. This would significantly harm the Government’s ability to carry out many aspects of its work.

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 relating to credit ratings. This private space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered. 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/ decision making process, which would not be in the public interest.

Section 33(1)(b) – commercial interests
An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA (commercial interests) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of Moody’s, and prejudice substantially the commercial sensitivities of the Scottish Government.

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 and transparent government, and to help account for the expenditure of public money. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies which Scottish Government contracts, to ensure that we are always able to obtain the best value for public money.

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 some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, 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 202600502431 - Information released - Annex A

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