FOI/202600516654 · FOI · cost limit
Borrowing limits and bonds correspondence: FOI release
Information requested
Regards this publication:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-bonds-programme-summary-outline-businesscase/documents/
And this quotation:
"A key difference between borrowing via the NLF and a bond is that NLF borrowing requires regular repayment of both principal and interest, whilst a traditional bond structure sees only interest repaid until the final payment, when the principal is repaid in full. These payments, for both NLF and bonds, come out of the Scottish Government’s resource budget. As such, bond issuances generate additional resource funding for the Scottish Government in the short to medium term, with a reduction in funding in the year the bond is repaid. See the Annex for further analysis underpinning the financial case. "
To what extent have the Scottish Government discussed the option to change the term structure of their borrowing facility with the UK Government? I would like to see any and all discussion and analysis of this point."
Following correspondence your clarified request is:
To what extent have the Scottish Government discussed the option to change the term structure of their borrowing facility with the UK Government? I would like to see any discussion, analysis, briefing or ministerial submission within the Scottish Government that considers whether the UK Government could amend the repayment terms of National Loans Fund borrowing or provide other forms of borrowing structure which would match a traditional bond structure (i.e. interest-only until maturity with principal repaid at the end).
To bring this within cost limits, I am willing to limit this to documents created from 1 January 2023 to present.
Response
I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested however please note that the following exemptions have been applied to your request.
Exemptions under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (third party personal data) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and contact details, 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. Exemptions under Section 28(1) applies to some of the information you have requested this is because its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice relations between two or more administrations in the UK.
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Detected exemption language
Response I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested however please note that the following exemptions have been applied to your request. Exemptions under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (third party personal data) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and contact details, 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. Exemptions under Section 28(1) applies to some of the information you have requested this is because its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice relations between two or more administrations in the UK.