FOI/202500464186 Review of 202500460799 · FOI · not held
Meetings held on specific dates between Scottish Public Pensions Agency and HMRC: FOI Review
Information requested
Original request: 202500460799
In relation to meetings held on 06/06/24, 29/02/24, 25/03/24, 24/04/24, 04/06/24, 16/07/24, 05/09/24, 23/10/24, 26/11/24, 16/12/24, 21/01/25 and 27/02/25 between SPPA and HMRC:
1. Pre and post meeting electronic correspondence
2. Delegates hand written or electronic notes
3. Agendas for meetings
4. A copy of the attendees lists for each meeting
5. Copies of minutes or meting summaries
6. Copies of PowerPoints
7. Spreadsheets etc used during the meetings
Response
Further to our acknowledgement of 2 May 2025, I have now completed a review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for information concerning 12 meetings between SPPA and HMRC in respect of the Remedy / McLeod process, the dates being: 06/06/24 29/02/24 25/03/24 24/04/24 04/06/24 16/07/24 05/09/24 23/10/24 26/11/24 16/12/24 21/01/25 and 27/02/25. We responded to this request on 23 April (FOI/202500460799).
Your review request challenges the accuracy of our response, in particular the number of attendees representing SPPA and the records relating to these meetings. You draw attention to point 5 of your original request in respect to the reference to summaries that were withheld due to personal data exemptions.
On review, I consider that the original response did provide an adequate explanation of the context of these meetings defined by the request scope. The context is that the meeting dates within scope form part of a long-standing series of monthly meetings between single points of contact in both organisations. The original meeting purpose was to cover the integration of the Secure Data Exchange Service registration and agreed service standards. Once this was embedded, these meetings have frequently covered individual casework where there have been difficulties using the service; such as members submitting their pension adjustment on the HMRC portal and changes to the Accounting for Tax and/or Event Reporting.
Taking each part in turn:
1. Pre and post meeting electronic correspondence
My review determined that an insufficient search was undertaken in respect to electronic correspondence referencing the meetings defined by the request scope. I have partially disclosed 21 items of correspondence alongside this review response as well as a reference table.
I have redacted some details within the information disclosed under the personal information. An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names/contact details of individuals, 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.
Scottish Government would only normally disclose names of Senior Civil Service colleagues. This also applies to correspondence detailing the casework discussions as this constitutes third party data.
2. Delegates hand written or electronic notes
My review upholds our original response and therefore section 17(1) ‘Information Not Held’ is applicable. My review confirms that no handwritten notes are held these meetings; it is likely they were securely disposed as they would contain details of specific casework.
Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold some of the information you have requested. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.
My observation is that the contact from HMRC would occasionally email and summarise key points following from the meetings which could be considered as electronic notes (please see documents 2,6,17 and 21)
3. Agendas for meetings
My review determined that an insufficient search was undertaken in respect to information referencing meetings agendas as defined by the request scope. Within the correspondence I have disclosed a number of items highlight topics to be covered within forthcoming meetings (please see documents 3, 4, 11, and 12.
4. A copy of the attendees lists for each meeting
My review determined that an insufficient search was undertaken in respect to information referencing meeting attendees as defined by the request scope. I have partially disclosed meeting invitations (please see documents 11, 12 and 13). Whilst you will be able to determine the numbers of attendees, I have withheld the names under the personal data. Scottish Government would only normally disclose names of Senior Civil Service colleagues.
An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to the information you have requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names/contact details of individuals, 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
5. Copies of minutes or meeting summaries
My review determined that an insufficient search was undertaken in respect to information in the form of minutes or meeting summaries. Within the disclosed material there are post-meeting correspondence that I consider to act as brief summaries of discussions held (please see documents 2, 6, 17 and 21). I uphold our original response in respect to there being no formal minutes and therefore section 17(1) ‘Information Not Held’ is applicable.
Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold some of the information you have requested. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.
6. Copies of PowerPoints
My review upholds our original response and therefore section 17(1) ‘Information Not Held’ is applicable. The reason being that the meetings within the scope of this request did not require PowerPoint.
Whilst our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold some of the information you have requested. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.
7. Spreadsheets etc used during the meetings My review determined that an insufficient search was undertaken in respect to information in the form of spreadsheets. Within the correspondence disclosed there are two items of email correspondence with spreadsheet attachments which I have been disclosed (please see documents 5b and 16b).
Having reviewed the content of our response, I have concluded that the original search for information was not sufficiently thorough.
I apologise for this oversight and for any inconvenience caused. We are reviewing our internal processes to ensure that reasonable and adequate searches are undertaken for all FOISA requests.
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
You draw attention to point 5 of your original request in respect to the reference to summaries that were withheld due to personal data exemptions. An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names/contact details of individuals, 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. Delegates hand written or electronic notes My review upholds our original response and therefore section 17(1) ‘Information Not Held’ is applicable.