Documents regarding meeting between Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, and representatives of Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited: EIR release

Information requested

Copies of any minutes, notes, briefings, correspondence, or other records relating to the meeting held on 9 October 2022 between Mairi Gougeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, and representatives of Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited, facilitated by Cavendish Consulting, which took place at the NFUS.

1. Any official minutes or notes taken during or after the meeting.

2. Any briefing documents prepared in advance of the meeting.

3. Any correspondence (including emails, letters, or internal communications) relating to the organisation, content, or follow-up of the meeting.

4. Any records relating to the proposed site visit mentioned during the meeting.

Response

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

Some of the information you have requested is available publicly here, this piece of information was attached to some of the correspondence being released. Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. 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.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs) applies to some of the information you have requested. This exception applies because the information is the personal data of third parties, including names of individuals below Senior Civil Service level, contact details, personal biographies, job titles where these identify specific individuals, addresses and other information. Disclosure of this information would contravene data protection principles.

Taking account of all the circumstances, we have considered whether the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in withholding it. We recognise that there is public interest in transparency and accountability in relation to the matters discussed. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in protecting personal data and ensuring compliance with data protection. We therefore consider that the public interest lies in favour of upholding this exception.

We have therefore withheld the information described above, but have released all remaining material relevant to the substance of your request.

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 202600509011 - Information Released - Annex

File type

PDF

File size

1.5 MB