FOI/202500496850 · FOI · partially withheld
Correspondence on advice from Professor Alexis Jay relating to Parliamentary debate on group-based child sexual exploitation: FOI release
Information requested
"Any written record held by the Scottish Government of advice received from Professor Alexis Jay which informed, contributed to, or was relied upon for statements made by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs during the Parliamentary debate on 3 December 2025 on group-based child sexual exploitation.
For clarity, this includes only:
any emails, briefing notes, meeting notes, submissions, or internal summaries capturing advice said to have been received from Professor Jay, if such advice is held, and any written record summarising verbal advice, if one exists. this could even be an email from a PS confirming it exists
If no such written record exists, please confirm whether the Scottish Government holds any recorded information indicating that advice was received from Professor Jay prior to the 3 December debate.
I am not requesting:
internal policy development material unrelated to advice said to have been received from Professor Jay general correspondence about grooming gangs all ministerial briefings for the debate records of other stakeholders’ advice drafts or internal emails that do not relate directly to “advice received from Professor Jay”
This request is deliberately narrow and applies only to recorded information that captures, summarises, or evidences advice said to have been received from Professor Alexis Jay which informed statements made in Parliament on 3 December.
If no such advice was received, or no recorded information exists, please confirm this"
Response
I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested.
Some of the information you have requested is publicly available. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. You can access that information here:
https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/education-children-and-young-peoplecommittee/correspondence/2025/cab-sec-jha-to-convener-education-children--young-peoplecommittee--17-dec-2025.pdf https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202500496390/ https://www.gov.scot/groups/national-child-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation-strategic-group/
An exemption(s) under s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This exemption relates to personal information and specifically the person data of third parties. This applies in this case as the information you have requested includes detailed data of third parties. 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.
Please note Professor Alexis Jay is not an advisor to the Scottish Government but is a member of the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group since its formation in 2024, and is the incoming Chair of the Group.
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
Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. You can access that information here: https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/education-children-and-young-peoplecommittee/correspondence/2025/cab-sec-jha-to-convener-education-children--young-peoplecommittee--17-dec-2025.pdf https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202500496390/ https://www.gov.scot/groups/national-child-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation-strategic-group/ An exemption(s) under s.38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This exemption relates to personal information and specifically the person data of third parties. 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.