Correspondence between Scottish and UK Government relating to the ongoing conflict in Iran and potential use of Scottish infrastructure: FOI release

Information requested

Copies of all recorded correspondence between Scottish Government ministers or officials and UK Government ministers or officials which relates to the ongoing conflict in Iran and/or the actual or potential use of Scottish infrastructure, including but not limited to bases, ports, airports or other facilities in Scotland, in connection with that conflict.

For the avoidance of doubt, “correspondence” should include emails and their attachments, letters, briefing notes or submissions that were shared, WhatsApp or other instant messages, and any minutes or notes of meetings or telephone calls where these issues were discussed, insofar as they are held by the Scottish Government. “UK Government ministers or officials” should include the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the Home Office, the Cabinet Office, and any other UK department involved in defence, foreign policy, or security.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. This can be found at Annex A.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b), personal information, of FOISA applies to some of the information you requested because it is personal data of a third party (i.e. names/contact details of individuals), 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 202600509737 - Information Released - Annex A

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