FOI/202400425757 · FOI · partially withheld
Stone of Destiny correspondence: FOI release
Information requested
Could you supply all documentation held by the Scottish Government about or mentioning the Stone of Destiny, between February 1 2024 and May 1 2024?
Can this include email correspondence, briefings, minutes from meetings etc?
Response
Please see the attached information which falls under scope of this request.
Reasons for not providing information
It might be helpful if I explain that some information in relation to the Stone of Destiny is held on behalf of the Commissioners for the Safeguarding of the Regalia (“the Commissioners”). The Commissioners are office-holders whose functions are established by Royal Warrant. The office of the Commissioners is not included within schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (“the 2002 Act”), which lists the Scottish Public Authorities in scope of the duties set out in the Act. That being so, the provisions of the 2002 Act do not apply to the Commissioners.
It is the case that the Scottish Government provides support to the Commissioners to assist them in the discharge of their duties under the terms of the Royal Warrant. As a consequence of providing that support the Scottish Government holds certain information on behalf of the Commissioners. However that information is held solely for the purposes of assisting the Commissioners. It is not held by the Scottish Government in its own right. On that basis, section 3(2)(a)(i) of the 2002 Act applies relating to information held on behalf of another person.
An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is because it relates to personal data of a third party i.e. names and 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.
An exemption under section 25(1) of FOISA applies to some information you have requested because it is information that has already been published. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public information test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
On that basis, section 3(2)(a)(i) of the 2002 Act applies relating to information held on behalf of another person. An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. names and 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. An exemption under section 25(1) of FOISA applies to some information you have requested because it is information that has already been published.