Information regarding the meeting between the First Minister and former UK Prime Minister on May 12 2026: FOI release

Information requested

Could you supply the full minutes/notes from the phone call between Sir Keir Starmer and John Swinney which took place on Tuesday May 12, as well as any correspondence held about setting it up and analysis afterwards?

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested. Exemptions under sections 17(1)(b) and s38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. More information on these exemptions is set out below.

Section 17(1)(b)
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The reason why we don't have the information is because this call between the First Minister and the Prime Minister was scheduled via a telephone exchange between Private Secretaries, for which the Scottish Government does not hold a recorded record. However, I can confirm that the call was placed by the Private Secretary to the Prime Minister to the Private Secretary to the First Minister, at 5.10pm on Tuesday 12 May, seeking a time for a call later that evening.

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 38(1)(b)
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, ie 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 202600516651 - Information Released - Annex

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