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FOI/202600508460 · FOI · partially withheld

Information regarding job specification for the Head of Violence Against Women and Girls Unit role: FOI release

Published
2026-04-27
Received
2026-02-25
Responded
2026-03-18
Directorate
People Directorate
Topic
Public sector, Work and skills
Exemptions
38(1)

Information requested

Please provide the job specifications and any other job role information that was used in the recruitment process for the Violence Against Women and Girls Unit Head in the Scottish Government. Ideally all information used in the advertisement of the role by externally and internally.

Response

Please find attached the job description and job advert that was used in the recruitment of the employee in late 2021.

There are hyperlinks to various online Scottish Government and UK Civil Service Government sites which provide candidate advice/guidance, which I have provided separately.

Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours - GOV.UK

Homepage - Scottish Government Jobs

Recruitment: candidate guide - gov.scot

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption covers personal data of individuals other than the requester and is applied because disclosure would contravene the data protection principles set out in the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. The names and identifying details of employees at Grades A, B and C are considered personal data. These staff are not in senior, public-facing, or decision-making roles, and there is no expectation that their personal information will be made public in this context.

Section 38(1)(b) is an absolute exemption, which means it is not subject to the public interest test. However, in considering this exemption, we have taken into account the balance between transparency and the rights of individuals. Disclosing the personal data of staff at grades A-C, would be unfair and would breach the data protection principles, as these employees have no reasonable expectation that their names or other identifying details would be released publicly in the context of FOI. Therefore, this information has been withheld.

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

Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours - GOV.UK Homepage - Scottish Government Jobs Recruitment: candidate guide - gov.scot An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption covers personal data of individuals other than the requester and is applied because disclosure would contravene the data protection principles set out in the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Section 38(1)(b) is an absolute exemption, which means it is not subject to the public interest test. However, in considering this exemption, we have taken into account the balance between transparency and the rights of individuals.

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