Recruitment process of Director-General Net Zero: FOI release

Information requested

• The number of applicants who applied to the Scottish Government for the role of Director-General Net Zero, who was appointed in January 2023
• The number of applicants interviewed by the Scottish Government for the role of Director General Net Zero
• Any delays that occurred during the recruitment process for the role of Director General Net Zero and the reason for those delays
• Any documents that include the marks awarded to each candidate at the interview stages by the Scottish Government for the role of Director General Net Zero

Response

I can confirm that we received 35 applications and interviewed 3 candidates for the DG Net Zero role. There were no delays in the recruitment process.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested regarding the marking awarded to each candidate. This is formal notification that 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.

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.