FOI/19/00139 · FOI · partially withheld
Service agreement with Citizens Advice Scotland for Financial Health Check Service: FOI release
Information requested
Please provide the service level agreement/contract between the Scottish Government and Citizens Advice Scotland for the purposes of delivering the Financial Health Check Service. If the “contract” or “service level agreement” for the service is called something else, please consider that in scope of this request and provide it in response to this request.
Response
I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. Ware unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections Section 33(1)(b) and Section 38(1)(b) and of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in the Annex A to this letter.
ANNEX A REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION
Exemption(s) apply
Section 33(1)(b) - Commercial Interest
An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. Some information is considered commercially sensitive and as such we are unable to provide.
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 money. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies which enter into Scottish Government agreements, to ensure that we are always able to obtain the best value for public money.
Section 38(1)(b) – applicant has asked for personal data of a third party
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide a small amount of the information requested because an exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies. The exemption applies because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names/contact details of individuals involved, 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.
Detected exemption language
Ware unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections Section 33(1)(b) and Section 38(1)(b) and of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in the Annex A to this letter. ANNEX A REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION Exemption(s) apply Section 33(1)(b) - Commercial Interest An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. 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.