Correspondence regarding the implementation of the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019 for specific dates: FOI release

Information requested

1. Any

(a) internal correspondence and

(b) correspondence with external organisations regarding the focus groups on the implementation of the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019, from January 2021 to June 2026;

and

2. Any notes and other materials produced as a result of the focus groups relating to the implementation of the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019, from January 2021 to June 2026.

Response

We have interpreted your search date parameters as being from the 1 January 2021 to the 2 June 2026.

I enclose a copy of some of the information that you have requested. The information release in answer to the first part of your request is included at Annex A.

The information release in response to the second part of your request is included at Annex B. Please see the covering email for these annexes.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested. This is because an exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal data relating to a third party) of FOISA applies to some of the information and has therefore been redacted from our response. This applies to the names, contact details and, in some cases, job titles of members of the public, staff of public sector organisations and, in the case of the Scottish Government, officials below the grade of Deputy Director. It does not apply to the names of Scottish Government Special Advisers.

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. Further information on this exemption and how it is applied can be found in the Scottish Information Commissioner's guidance on FOISA section 38.

Some of the information captured by your request is already published on the Scottish Government website as part of the release for FOI request 202600508387. Specifically, the information is available at Items 2, 3, 16, 17 and 18 of Annex A Part 1 of 3, and Item 34 of Annex A Part 3 of 3.

Some further information captured by your request is also already published on the Scottish Government website as part of the release for FOI request 202200286329. While much of this is mixed with information that is outside the scope of your request, the relevant sections of the published document are as follows:

• Submission to the Minister for Children and Young People, 09 February 2022. Starts on page 32, or 33 of the PDF document. Finishes on page 36, or 37 of the PDF document.
• ‘Subject E: planned focus groups’ internal Scottish Government emails. Starts on page 56, or 57 of the PDF document. Finishes on page 68, or 69 of the PDF document.

Note that both of these FOI releases have their own exemptions applied, which are explained in their relevant releases. Both releases also contain further information about the focus groups that are not captured by your request but which may be of some interest to you.

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy. Again, 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. Further information on this exemption is available in the Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance on section 25

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 202600519520 - Information Released - Annex A

File type

PDF

File size

169.9 kB

FOI 202600519520 - Information Released - Annex B

File type

PDF

File size

129.8 kB