Law Society of Scotland documentation: FOI Review

Information requested

Original request 202600514520

All documents, meetings, communications and discussions between Michael Clancy of the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Government from January 2024 to the date of this FOI request.

I have interpreted this to mean that you are requesting direct “correspondence, notes, records, minutes of meetings between the Michael Clancy of the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Government".

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request. In doing so, we have considered the comments made by you in your request for a review, which are as follows:

"Public interest information such as profiles of or biographies of those steering Scottish Govt policy & legislation should be included in FOI releases and not subject to misapplied redactions of 'personal information' therefore the biographies of Michael Clancy and any others in a similar external organisation role with influence on Scottish Government policy making & legislation should be included unredacted in any release."

I have reconsidered the applied exemptions and concluded that the original decision should be modified and can confirm that we are now releasing information.

Therefore, I enclose a revised copy of the information you requested with redactions applied at ANNEX A.

In your review request, you specifically highlighted the use of Section 38(1)(b) to withhold biographical information about meeting attendees, including Michael Clancy. Section 38(1)(b) of FOISA exempts from FOISA information which is the personal information of a third party and its release 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 if information is covered by this section, we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

However, I have reconsidered whether the information withheld under section 38(1)(b) because it is the personal information of a third party is personal information within the meaning of that section. I have concluded that some of the information exempted under section 38(1)(b) in the original decision was not personal information within the meaning of that section because the information is already in the public domain and as such, its release would not 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 is some of the biographical information about attendees at the meetings contained in documents 32 and 34 in the document ‘FOI 202600514520 - 1 Jan 2024 to 13 April 2026’ released in response to your FOI request . I have also concluded that Mr Clancy's email address is not information that should have been withheld under section 38(1)(b) as it is publicly available on the Law Society's Website. It is MichaelClancy@lawscot.org.uk.

Some of the information you sought was exempted because the exemptions at sections 30(b)(i) and 30(b)(ii) were applied. We have reconsidered the applicability of these exemptions against the documents covered by your request and the applicability of the public interest test to determine whether, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs that in the disclosure of the information.

The exemption at section 30(b)(i) exempts information if its release would be likely to substantially inhibit the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption was applied because it was considered that the disclosure of this information would, or would be likely to, substantially inhibit the free and frank provision. It recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to provide free and frank advice to Ministers and other officials before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. Disclosing the content of free and frank advice on our engagement with stakeholders would risk substantially inhibiting the provision of such advice in future, particularly where these discussions relate to sensitive issues such as the views of an external stakeholder.

The exemption at section 30(b)(ii) exempts information if its release would be likely to substantially inhibit the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. This exemption recognises the need for Ministers and officials to have a private space within which to discuss and explore options before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view. Disclosing the content of free and frank discussions on our engagement with stakeholders risks substantially inhibiting such discussions in future, particularly where these discussions relate to sensitive issues such as the views of an external stakeholder.

Exemptions under sections 30(b)(i) and 30(b)(ii) of FOISA are subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case,we have reconsidered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

Our review has concluded that some of the information that was withheld under section 30(b)(i) is factual information about existing policy or plans for new policy that is either in the public domain already, or cannot be considered to be sensitive. As such it is not covered by this exemption or is such that the public interest in its disclosure outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. This is information that was redacted from documents 3, 32, 33, 34 and 35 which were in the document ‘FOI 202600514520 - 1 Jan 2024 to 13 April 2026’.

We have also concluded that some of the information that was withheld under section 30(b)(ii) is factual background information about existing policy or plans for new policy that is either in the public domain already, or cannot be considered to be sensitive. As such is not covered by this exemption or is such that the public interest in its disclosure outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. This is information that was redacted from documents 28 and 41 which were in the document ‘FOI 202600514520 - 1 Jan 2024 to 13 April 2026’.

I have attached fresh versions of documents 3, 28, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 41 with the previously redacted information now included.

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 202600517799 - Information released - Annex A

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