Ministry of Defence and Scotland’s Redress Scheme: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for 'disclosure of any recorded information held by the Scottish Government relating to the Ministry of Defence’s decision to join the Scottish Redress Scheme as announced in the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS841 dated 17 July 2025. In particular, ... the following information:-

1. Any recorded guidance, policy documents, procedural notes, or internal communications which describe or govern the process by which an organization applies to become a contributor to the Scottish Redress Scheme; the criteria or considerations applied when assessing or approving such applications; and the respective roles of the Scottish Government and Redress Scotland in approving, agreeing or overseeing contributor participation.

2. Any briefing papers, submissions, advice, policy documents, minutes, or analyses held by the Scottish Government which refer to Queen Victoria School in the context of the Ministry of Defence’s decision to become a contributor to the Scottish Redress Scheme.

3. Any recorded information relating to the Scottish Government’s role in considering, approving, or agreeing the Ministry of Defence’s participation in the Redress Scheme, including any assessment of institutions or care settings associated with that participation.

4. Any recorded consideration, analysis, or discussion held by the Scottish Government regarding whether Queen Victoria School or any other Ministry of Defence care setting constitutes, or could constitute, a “relevant care setting” for the purposes of the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Act 2021.

5. Any recorded information which considers or asserts that placements at Queen Victoria School or any other Ministry of Defence care setting were categorically private placements or funded solely by the Ministry of Defence, and therefore outwith the scope of the Redress Scheme.

6. Any correspondence (including emails) between the Scottish Government and the Ministry of Defence and/or Redress Scotland which refers to Queen Victoria School in the context of contributor participation, eligibility, placement funding, or care setting status under the Redress Scheme.

7. Any recorded information held by the Scottish Government or Redress Scotland indicating the number or contributions made by the Ministry of Defence since joining the scheme as a contributor.'

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested.

1. Full details and criteria for entry to the Redress contributor list can be found in Section 14 of the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Act 2021. This is also outlined in the information for organisations section of the Scottish Government website Introduction - Redress Scheme: information for organisations - gov.scot. For ease I have provided the relevant extract. Section 14 Scheme contributors

The Scottish Ministers must establish and maintain a list of public authorities, voluntary organisations and other persons (other than individuals)-

• 1. who exercise or have exercised functions in relation to the safeguarding or promotion of the welfare of children or the protection or furthering of their interests,
• 2. who, in the opinion of Ministers, are making or have agreed to make a fair and meaningful financial contribution towards the funding of redress payments under this Act, and who, in making or agreeing to make such a contribution, acknowledge the wrongfulness of, and the harm caused by, the historical child abuse which took place in relevant care settings.

In this Act -

• 1. the list established and maintained under subsection (1) is the “contributor list”, and
• 2. a public authority, voluntary organisation or other person (other than an individual) included from time to time in the list is a “scheme contributor”.

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.

2. A copy of relevant material is attached at Annex A. This has been appropriately redacted to remove personal information where s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. In addition an exemption under section 30(c) of FOISA (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) applies to some of the information requested. Disclosing this information would constitute a substantial prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs. An explanation of why this exemption has been applied can be found at BriefingSection30PrejudicetotheEffectiveConductofPublicAffairs.pdf.

3. The Scottish Government's role is outlined in the website referred to in response to 1. above. In the addition of the Ministry of Defence to the Contributor list, consideration was specifically given to sections 2.1 to 2.5, and 2.14 to 2.22 of the Statement of Principles. Scottish Ministers were satisfied that the Ministry of Defence acted in accordance with the ethos of the scheme in providing acknowledgement of the harms of the past, and offering a fair and meaningful financial contribution to the scheme. The acknowledgement of harm can be found at Scotland’s Redress Scheme: contributor list - gov.scot.

4. A copy of relevant material is attached at Annex B. This has been appropriately redacted to remove personal information where s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information.

5. A copy of relevant material is attached at Annex C. This has been appropriately redacted to remove personal information where s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information.

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/contact details of ndividuals), and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998. 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.

6. All information held by the Scottish Government in relation to this is included in Annex B.

7. The Ministry of Defence have made a single deposit to the scheme of £30,000 on joining in August 2025.

I hope that you find this useful.

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 202600503254 - Information Released - Annex A - C

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