Materials relating to the supply shortage of co-codamol: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Information requested
Information relating to the supply shortage of co-codamol 30mg/500mg tablets:
For the period 1 January 2026 to the date of this request, please provide:
1. Any briefing papers prepared for Scottish Ministers regarding the co-codamol 30/500mg shortage.
2. Correspondence (including emails or letters) between the Scottish Government and the Department of Health and Social Care relating specifically to the cause of the shortage and mitigation measures.
3. Minutes or formal notes from meetings of the Medicines Shortage Response Group Scotland MSRG (SCO) where co-codamol 30/500mg was discussed.
If possible, I would be grateful if searches could be limited to the Pharmacy and Medicines Division.
Response
1. Any briefing papers prepared for Scottish Ministers regarding the co-codamol 30/500mg shortage.
I have enclosed a copy of the information you have requested with some exemptions applied under FOI(S)A. A full list of the documents, including details of what has and has not been disclosed, is provided in Annex A (see attached).
2. Correspondence (including emails or letters) between the Scottish Government and the Department of Health and Social Care relating specifically to the cause of the shortage and mitigation measures.
I have enclosed a copy of the information you have requested, with some exemptions applied under FOI(S)A. A full list of the documents, including details of what has and has not been disclosed, is provided in Annex A (see attached).
3. Minutes or formal notes from meetings of the Medicines Shortage Response Group Scotland MSRG (SCO) where co-codamol 30/500mg was discussed.
The Medicines Shortage Response Group Scotland (MSRG (SCO)) is not currently in operation and therefore has not convened to discuss the recent co-codamol supply issue. As a result, I am unable to provide any information or documents relating to this part of your request.
Exemptions
Section 38(1)(b) of FOISA was applied to some of the information in the released documents as it contained personal information relating to personnel of the Scottish Government or other public sector bodies. This has meant some information in the released documents was redacted. This exemption has been applied to all the released documents and therefore all have been redacted. This exemption has been applied to the documents as disclosing this information 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.
Section 29(1)(a) of FOISA states that information is exempt information if it relates to the formulation or development of government policy. Material withheld relates to the formulation of policy in respect of medicine supply issues which are out of scope of the request, as it relates to the specific supply issue for cocodamol 30/500mg tablets. Content redacted includes freely shared commercially sensitive information about current medicines supply issues, including examples of potential measures to mitigate them, from the UK Government. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered that it is in the public interest to apply this exemption considering the commercially sensitive nature of the information, and that disclosure could negatively impact on the Scottish Government and the UK Government’s ability to put in place effective measures to mitigate against future supply issues.
About FOI
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Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG