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FOI/202500469364 · FOI · partially withheld

Terms and Conditions of Appointment document of new Independent Advisors on the Scottish Ministerial Code: FOI release

Published
2025-09-23
Received
2025-06-04
Responded
2025-06-17
Directorate
Propriety and Ethics Directorate
Topic
Constitution and democracy, Public sector
Exemptions
38(1), 34(1), 25(1)

Information requested

The Terms and Conditions of Appointment document and associated annexes of the three new Independent Advisors on the Scottish Ministerial Code.

Response

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 under section s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of that information.

Section 38(1)(b) applies to the Terms and Conditions of Appointment document because it is personal data of a third party. 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.

In terms of the associated Annexes, I can advise that Annex A, the Terms of Reference for the role, can be found at: The Scottish Ministerial Code: independent advisers - gov.scot. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Finally, a copy of Annex B is attached.

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

Response 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 under section s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of that information. Section 38(1)(b) applies to the Terms and Conditions of Appointment document because it is personal data of a third party. 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. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.

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