Correspondence regarding voting rights: FOI release

Information requested

I am writing to submit a request for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I request copies of all ministerial submissions and briefing notes provided to Scottish Government ministers between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2020 that recommended or discussed extending voting rights in Scottish Parliament and local government elections to foreign nationals (including refugees and those with leave to remain).

Response

Some items you have requested are located in Annex A of this document.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (Personal Information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party 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.

Exemptions under S29(1)(a), S29(1)(b) and S36(1) have been applied to some of the materials. The reason for these exemptions is explained in Annex B of this document.

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 202600517335 - Information Released - Annex A and Annex B

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