Ministerial code investigation of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs and the advice given to the Independent Advisers: FOI Review

Information requested

Original request: 202600500388

In relation to the Ministerial Code Investigation published on the 6th of January 2026:

Ministerial code investigation: complaint about Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs the following passage states:

"On advice we did not respond to either request ourselves given the way in which a referral or a decision to undertake an independent investigation should be made."

1) Who gave this advice to the Independent Advisors?

2) I request all communications relating to this advice given to the Independent Advisors?

Response

Further to my letter of 10 February 2026, I have now completed my review of our failure to respond to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for:

"On advice we did not respond to either request ourselves given the way in which a referral or a decision to undertake an independent investigation should be made."

1) Who gave this advice to the Independent Advisors?
2) I request all communications relating to this advice given to the Independent Advisors

In accordance with section 21(4) of FOISA, I have also reached a decision on your request.

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your original request. This was due to operational pressures during the timeframe which affected our ability to respond within the statutory deadline.

I can now provide our response to your original request.

Response to your request

In response to your first question, I can advise that this advice was provided by the Propriety and Ethics Directorate of the Scottish Government in line with the Terms of Reference of the Independent Advisers. published on the Scottish Government website. Under those terms of reference, the Independent Advisers are appointed by the First Minister to advise him on matters relating to the Ministerial Code. As a matter of propriety therefore, they will not provide comment on investigations or recommendations to a third party who contacts them directly. This is consistent with their role in advising the First Minister.

In response to your second question, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because the following exemptions under sections:

• 38(1)(b) (personal data of a third party)
• 30(c) (the effective conduct of public affairs)

of FOISA apply to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in the Annex to this letter.

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 202600505453 - Information released - Annex A

File type

PDF

File size

79.6 kB