Communication between the Scottish Government and Inspiring Scotland relating to LGBT Youth Scotland: FOI Review

Information requested

Original Request 202600507416

Please provide all communication between the Scottish government and inspiring Scotland relating to lgbt youth Scotland over the past 9 months.

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for communications, over the past 9 months (from the date of your request), between the Scottish Government and Inspiring Scotland relating to LGBT Youth Scotland. Following this review, I have concluded that a different decision should be substituted.

The initial response stated that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. As part of the review, I carried out a new search across our systems. This identified a number of items of correspondence between the Scottish Government and Inspiring Scotland within the nine‑month period covered by your request. This material falls within scope and should have been identified at the initial stage. The material identified through the review is enclosed with this letter.

An exemption under section 29(1)(a) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because the email relates to the formulation or development of Scottish Government policy. Section 29(1)(a) is a class‑based exemption covering information that contributes to policy‑making, including input from external stakeholders. In this case, the email includes advice and views provided to support officials in developing policy options that are not yet finalised. Releasing this information now would disclose material that informed policy work which remains ongoing.

This exemption is subject to the public interest test. Having considered all the circumstances, I concluded that the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. While I recognise a public interest in transparency and understanding how stakeholder contributions inform policy, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that officials and external partners have the necessary space to develop policy options candidly. Premature disclosure could inhibit the free and frank exchange of views and undermine the quality of policy‑making while the work remains under active consideration.

Certain limited redactions have been applied where the information consists of personal data relating to individuals, including Scottish Government staff and external contacts, disclosure of which would breach the data protection principles. This information has been withheld under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal data). All other information falling within scope has been disclosed.

At the review stage, I applied a wider search approach, using different search terms and looking across a broader set of locations within the relevant business areas. This was necessary because the initial search had been limited to locations the case handler considered most likely to contain information.

The review search covered all relevant business areas and made use of a different set of search terms from those used at the initial stage. In practice, this involved using the term “LGBT Youth Scotland”, combined with other relevant search terms.

This approach identified correspondence where “LGBT Youth Scotland” did not appear in the main text, but where attached reporting or monitoring data contained relevant references. Where such references appeared in attachments, the material was treated as falling within scope of your request. The renewed search process therefore identified information that had not been located previously, due to the more focused approach taken at the initial stage. This addresses the concerns you raised regarding completeness and search methodology.

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 202600511494 - Information Released - Annex

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