FOI/202000077960 · FOI · partially withheld
Former First Minister correspondence in 2017: FOI release
Information requested
-All correspondence between the Scottish Government and Alex Salmond in 2017. Please provide all emails, documents, written letters/notes, texts and Whatsapp messages exchanged between Mr Salmond and Scottish Government ministers and officials. This should include any private email accounts - for example, linked to the SNP. -All call logs and minutes of any meetings held between the Scottish Government (ministers and officials) and Alex Salmond in 2017. We are aware Mr Salmond was in contact with two Scottish Government employees in November 2017. Please provide all details and any logs/reports on these the government has.
Response
Some of the information you requested is set out below and in the attachment to this letter. An exemption under section 38(1) of FOISA (personal information), applies to some parts of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, for example names of individuals or other personal data, and that information has been redacted or not disclosed. 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. Two SG employees received calls directly from Mr Salmond on or around 9 November 2017. 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.
Detected exemption language
An exemption under section 38(1) of FOISA (personal information), applies to some parts of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, for example names of individuals or other personal data, and that information has been redacted or not disclosed. 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.