FOI/202500453128 · FOI · partially withheld
Meeting between First Minister and advisers on the Scottish Ministerial Code: FOI release
Information requested
In terms of the First Minister’s lunch meeting on 13 January 2025:
Please supply all items of information in all briefings prepared for the First Minister and other participants in the lunch meeting held at Bute House on 13 January 2025 between the First Minister and his three advisers on the Scottish Ministerial Code. Please also supply all minutes, notes, and other records of this meeting. Please also supply any follow-up correspondence arising directly from the meeting.
Response
I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. This includes the briefing prepared for the First Minister in advance of the lunch meeting, the note of the meeting, and two subsequent exchanges between the Advisers and officials, following up on actions arising from the lunch meeting. It should be noted that one of these exchanges takes place within a wider email chain, the majority of which is outwith the scope of your request. I have therefore included the relevant section only.
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 s.38(1)(b) (personal information) 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, in this case, 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.
It may also be helpful to note that an email to the Advisers ahead of the lunch was made available in response to a previous FOI request. You can find that information on our website: New Ministerial code queries: FOI release - 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.
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 under s.38(1)(b) (personal information) 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, in this case, 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. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.