Scottish Ministers and officials introductory meeting with Equinor representative: FOI release

Information requested

“Please could you search your records from 1st January 2017 to the time at which you process this request and provide me with:

1. a list of any meetings between Scottish ministers and officials and Hannah Mary Goodlad. For each meeting please provide copies of any agendas, minutes and notes produced along with the date of the meeting and its attendees.

2. Any correspondence to or from Hannah Mary Goodlad with your domain "@gov.scot", redacting personal information where necessary.”

To note, the timeframe considered for this request is from 01 January 2017 up to 23 March 2026, which was the date we received this request.

Response

Question 1.

Date:	Details:
08.08.2023	Meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture – Introductory meeting with Hannah Mary Goodlad (Equinor)

In relation to the meeting held on 8 August 2023 I have attached the note of the meeting at Annex A.

In reviewing materials within the scope of your request, an exception has been applied in line with the FoIs. Details of this exception can be found below.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance an exemption under Section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because it relates to personal data.

Information has been redacted under Section 38(1)(b) as it contains personal information and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 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.

Accordingly, some information within the attached documents has been redacted.

Question 2.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. The reason for this is that to locate and retrieve the information requested, we would need to conduct a search of all the records of the Scottish Government. It may help if I explain that we file our information according to the subject matter, not by reference to the names of individuals/organisations with whom we have corresponded.

Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. For example, you could restrict your request to a specific time period, or subject area on what the meeting was regarding as this would allow us to limit the searches that would require to be conducted. A list of all current Scottish Government policies can be found at the following: Policies - gov.scot.

You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner’s ‘Tips for requesting information under FOI on his website here.

ANNEX A

ENGAGEMENT REPORT
Minister	Angus Robertson (AR) Cab Sec for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture
Date	09 August 2023
Who	Hannah Mary Goodlad (HMG) Head of Portfolio and Strategy, Asia Pacific, Equinor
Key Points	Following her participation in the Arctic Frontiers Abroad event in Aberdeen, HMG expressed interest in remaining sighted of the work that the Scottish Government is carrying out to increase connections and knowledge exchange with Arctic partners. AR and HMG discussed Scotland’s renewable energy potential and agreed on the importance of raising international awareness of the key role that Scotland can play in assisting decarbonisation efforts in Europe. AR spoke about the Scottish Government’s work on hydrogen and the potential for closer cooperation with other countries around the North Sea. HMG reflected on the role of Equinor as a vehicle to promote and deliver Norway’s energy offer internationally. The memorandum of understanding that Equinor signed with RWE (Germany) earlier this year is evidence of Equinor’s economic and diplomatic functions. HMG commented that Scotland’s potential on carbon capture and storage, including its optimal geological features, are well known and understood internationally.
Attending Officials	[Redacted: S38(1)(b)] – Head of Nordic and Arctic Unit, DEXA [Redacted: S38(1)(b)]– Deputy Private Secretary

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