Publication - FOI/EIR release

Jenny Gilruth's meeting with SNP/Green MSPs: FOI release

Published: 6 December 2023
Topic: Public sector
FOI reference: 202300338458
Date received: 17 January 2023
Date responded: 1 June 2023

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Information requested

All internal and external correspondence within and sent or received by the Scottish Government including attached documents, meeting handouts, memos, briefings to ministers, attendee lists, location of meeting, notes, minutes, or OneNote memos, linked to the following meetings:

Jenny Gilruth's meeting with SNP/Green MSPs on September 8, 2022
Jenny Gilruth's meeting with Scotrail on September 20, October 4, 6, and 12
Jenny Gilruth's meeting with Scotrail's COO on September 30
Jenny Gilruth's meeting with AGS Airports on October 5
Jenny Gilruth's meeting with Scotrail marketing on October 25
Jenny Gilruth's meeting with Fergus Ewing on October 25.

Response

Please see requested information included in Annex A to this letter
Please see requested information included in Annex B to this letter
Please see requested information included in Annex C to this letter
Please see requested information included in Annex D to this letter
Please see requested information included in Annex E to this letter

You will see that some of the information has been redacted in line with the following FOISA exemptions:

Section 30(b)(i) - Substantial inhibition to free and frank exchange of advice

An exemption under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA (free and frank provision of advice) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of advice between officials and the Ministers. This exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to provide free and frank advice to Ministers.

Disclosing the content of free and frank exchange of advice would inhibit the exchange of advice in future between officials and Ministers in relation to areas of future policy making.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate.

However, there is a greater public interest in allowing a private space within which officials can offer full and frank advice to Ministers, as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government’s decision making process. This private space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, based on the best available advice, so that good policy decisions can be taken. Disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between Ministers and officials, which in turn, will undermine the quality of the decision making process, which would not be in the public interest.

Section 30(b)(ii) - Substantial inhibition to free and frank exchange of views

An exemption under section 30(b)(ii) of FOISA (free and frank provision of views) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange of views. This exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to provide their views to Ministers freely.

Disclosing the content of free and frank exchange of views would inhibit the exchange of views in future between officials and Ministers in relation to areas of future policy making.

We recognise there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing a private thinking space within which officials can exchange full and frank views, as part of the process of exploring and refining the Government’s decision making process. This private thinking space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, based on the best available advice, so that good policy decisions can be taken. Disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between Ministers and officials, which in turn will undermine the quality of the decision making process, which would not be in the public interest.

Section 33(1)(b) - Substantial prejudice to commercial interests

An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA (Substantial prejudice to commercial interests) applies to some of the information requested.

This exemption applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interest of third parties.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open and transparent government, and to help account for the expenditure of public funds. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of businesses involved in Scottish Government’s activities, therefore the exemption applies.

Section 32(1)(a)(i) – substantial prejudice of relations between the UK and Scottish Government

An exemption under section 32(1)(a)(i) (substantial prejudice to international relations) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested.

This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially relations between the UK and Scottish Governments. The effective conduct of these relations depends on maintaining trust and confidence. In this case, the information was exchanged on the understanding that it would be treated in confidence. If the Scottish Government does not respect this confidence, the relations between the governments will be substantially prejudiced, which would in turn, reduce both the frequency and openness of communications between them.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in maintaining positive relations between UK and Scottish Governments. With this in mind the exemption applies.

Section 38(1)(b) – Personal data of a third party

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and 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.

The information that has been redacted has been clearly marked with the relevant exemption i.e. Section 30 (b)(ii).

The remaining information that has been redacted is that which falls into the exemption of section 38 (1) (b) – third party data.

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with this part of your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

In response to your request for materials in relation to the meeting on 25 October with Fergus Ewing:

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. This information has been released under Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004. Reference 202300338584 and can be accessed via the Scottish Government’s website online: Transport minister meeting with Fergus Ewing MSP: EIR release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.