FOI/202600519983 · FOI · partially withheld
Correspondence between the Lord Advocate and Ministers regarding former Chief Executive of the Scottish National Party, former First Minister and former Scottish National Party treasurer: FOI release
Information requested
Any correspondence between the Scottish Government and the Lord Advocate regarding Peter Murrell, Nicola Sturgeon or Colin Beattie between March 2023 and most recent.
Response
As the Lord Advocate is a Minister of the Scottish Government, I have interpreted your request as seeking correspondence between the Lord Advocate and other Scottish Government Ministers. Having conducted appropriate and proportionate searches in relation to your question, I have identified one document within scope of your request, which I have enclosed. The attachments to this email are also available on the Crown Office website.
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 an exemption(s) under section 38(1)(b) (third party personal data) of FOISA applies to that information.
Section 38(1)(b) applies to some of the information because it is personal data of a third party, including the names of Scottish Government officials below the level of Senior Civil Servant, and personal email addresses. Disclosing this 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.
Please note that I have also identified a small amount of information relating to the handling of similar requests made under FOISA which I have deemed outwith the scope of your request; however if you do not agree with this interpretation, please contact us.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
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 an exemption(s) under section 38(1)(b) (third party personal data) of FOISA applies to that information. Section 38(1)(b) applies to some of the information because it is personal data of a third party, including the names of Scottish Government officials below the level of Senior Civil Servant, and personal email addresses. Disclosing this 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.