· FOI · partially withheld
Briefings for meeting with Federation for Small Businesses: FOI release
Information requested
a copy of all background notes and/or briefing/s provided to the Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy with regard to the meeting with the Federation of Small Businesses in relation to the meeting on Small Businesses held on 9th March 2017 and; a copy of any minute and note taken during or subsequent to this meeting.
Response
In response to 1. above, I enclose a copy of the pre-meeting briefing provided to the Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections 29(1)(a) (formulation or development of government policy) and 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA apply to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in the Annex to this letter. In response to 2. above, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. The reasons why we don't have the information are explained in the Annex.
Detected exemption language
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections 29(1)(a) (formulation or development of government policy) and 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA apply to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in the Annex to this letter. aboveAn exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. 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. aboveAn exemption under section 29(1)(a) of FOISA (formulation or development of government policy) applies to some of the information requested (specifically "Annex C – EU Referendum Overview" and "Annex G - Can Do Places (Formerly Can Do Towns)" because it relates to the formulation/development of Scottish Government policy.