FOI/202500461388 · FOI · unclear
Deputy First Minister call conducted on skype: FOI release
Information requested
1) In regards to page 33 there is subject of a call with the DFM, was this call conducted on skype? Who was present in this call? What was the purpose of the call? I request all minutes and notes from this call, as well as the entire "main skype chat" of this call.
2) On page 34 the following passage says:
"this may need amended as it does not consider the response"
Was the Hamilton Report amended in anyway further following the initial sending of the report by the secretariat at 00:02 on March 22nd 2021? Who amended the report and what parts of the report were amended?
3) In regards to point 2, when discussing amending the report, were there any further redactions carried out to the report, or was amending simply correcting points?
Response
In relation to your first request, the call was held on Skype and was attended by Lesley Fraser (Director General Corporate), Gavin Henderson (Deputy Director, Organisational Continuity Team), the then Deputy First Minister, and Colin McAllister. During the meeting, Ms. Fraser explained the GDPR process, the representations made as part of that process, and shared her views as the Senior Responsible Risk Owner with the then Deputy First Minister, who is the responsible Minister.
In response to your request for the “main skype chat”, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for. For clarity, the “main skype call” referred to in the document released to you in 202500449875 refers to a separate skype chat between officials, not a chat from the call with the then Deputy First Minister.
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.
Having conducted appropriate and proportionate searches for information in line with your requests, the Scottish Government holds no recorded information within the scope of your request as there is no record held of the Skype chat.
Some of the information you have requested have been provided with FOI response 202500449875, namely the note from Lesley Fraser to the Deputy First Minister at 16:24 on 22 March 2021, which is the note from that meeting.
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 access to the information, then please contact me again and I will send you a copy.
In relation to your second question, Mr. Hamilton submitted his report to Ministers through his Secretariat at 00:02 on 22 March 2021, along with a covering letter addressed to the Deputy First Minister. Later that day, a revised version of the report was sent from the Secretariat to the Organisational Continuity Team at 08:04 to correct the report's publication date. Additionally, a few minor corrections for factual accuracy were made to the report on 22 March 2021, which Mr. Hamilton approved.
In relation to your third question, as mentioned in our reply to your previous request 202500449875, data protection notices were issued on 22 March 2021, giving time for the subjects to respond and for their responses to be considered. In parallel with the data protection notifications, the report was considered for any redactions required to protect the identity of individuals whose identities are protected by the Contempt of Court orders.
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Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. 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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