FOI/202300383423 · FOI · partially withheld
Scottish Government issued devices for Scottish Ministers: FOI release
Information requested
1. Whether Scottish Ministers are automatically given a government device upon becoming a Scottish Government Minister, what device this is and if there a policy or standard procedure on how often they are replaced.
2. The number of government-issued devices each Scottish Minister has in their possession. Please provide when each current Scottish Minister was issued with their government-issued device, what the device is and how much it cost. Please also specify if it is a phone, laptop, tablet or other device. Please also list individual ministers who do not have a government device.
3. Whether any Scottish Ministers have lost or damaged beyond repair any previous government-issued device and if so which ministers. Please list any such instances since 1 February 2020.
4. Please list all Scottish Ministers who had a government-issued device(s) between 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2022. This should list every Scottish Minister who was in possession of such a device, the device(s) they had and how much they cost. If there is an overlap between the previous question for some ministers please state so.
5. Please state what happened to Nicola Sturgeon, Jeane Freeman, John Swinney’s government-issued devices, if they had any, when they ceased being Scottish Ministers and what happened to the content on them. For example, where the devices retained for use by other ministers or disposed of and was the data on the device stored by the Scottish Government or destroyed.
Response
I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested.
1. Whether Scottish Ministers are automatically given a government device upon becoming a Scottish Government Minister, what device this is and if there a policy or standard procedure on how often they are replaced.
Scottish Ministers are offered a laptop and a mobile phone from the standard Scottish Government device catalogue upon becoming a Scottish Government Minister. There are standard policies in place that determine how often they are to be replaced.
2. The number of government-issued devices each Scottish Minister has in their possession. Please provide when each current Scottish Minister was issued with their government-issued device, what the device is and how much it cost. Please also specify if it is a phone, laptop, tablet or other device. Please also list individual ministers who do not have a government device.
The table below lists all Scottish Ministers and if they have a Scottish Government issued mobile phone, tablet or laptop according to our records. It has not been possible to include when the device was issued as the specific date a device was issued is not held in our records.
Minister Current Ministerial Role SG Mobile SG Laptop SG Tablet Humza Yousaf First Minister YES YES NO Shona Robison Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance YES YES NO Angela Constance Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs YES YES NO Neil Gray Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy YES YES NO Mairi McAllan Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition YES YES NO Mairi Gougeon Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands YES YES NO Angus Robertson Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture YES YES NO Michael Matheson Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care YES YES YES Shirley-Anne Somerville Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice YES YES NO Jenny Gilruth Cabinet Secretary for Education & Skills YES YES NO Siobhian Brown Minister for Victims and Community Safety YES YES NO Natalie Don Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise YES YES NO Richard Lochhead Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade YES YES NO Fiona Hyslop Minister for Transport YES YES NO Elena Whitham Minister for Drugs & Alcohol Policy YES YES NO Tom Arthur Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance YES YES NO Maree Todd Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing & Sport YES YES NO Emma Roddick Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees YES YES NO
Minister Current Ministerial Role SG Mobile SG Laptop SG Tablet Graeme Dey Minister for Higher Education, Further Education (& Minister for Veterans) YES YES NO Gillian Martin Minister for Energy and the Environment YES YES NO Jamie Hepburn Minister for Independence YES YES NO Joe FitzPatrick Minister for Local Government Empowerment & Planning YES YES YES Jenni Minto Minister for Public Health & Women's Health YES YES NO Paul McLennan Minister for Housing YES YES NO Patrick Harvie Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel & Tenant's Rights YES YES NO George Adam Minister for Parliamentary Business YES YES NO Christina McKelvie Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development NO YES NO Lorna Slater Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity NO YES NO Dorothy Bain KC Lord Advocate NO YES YES Ruth Charteris KC Solicitor General NO YES NO
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government we are unable to provide for the reasons outlined below.
Exemption 1. The device make and model information including historical information related to laptops and tablets you have requested because an exemption(s) under section(s) 30c (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) of FOISA applies to that information.
In considering this exemption we have taken account of the fact that disclosure of information under the FOISA is to “the world at large”, not just to an individual applicant. We are therefore required to consider the effect of releasing the information into the public domain.
We recognise that there is an inherent public interest in openness and transparency regarding the use of Government systems. However, we have to balance this interest with the ability of those conducting Government business to operate safely and securely, as well as to protect our networks and information, all of which is required to enable the conduct of public affairs.
Providing details about the information you have requested into the public domain could subsequently be used by threat actors to evade any controls we might or might not have in place.
We consider that the public interest in ensuring that the security of our systems and processes is not compromised, thereby maintaining ability to conduct affairs of public office, outweighs that of disclosing this information. We have therefore decided to withhold the information.
Exemption 2. The device cost information you have requested because an of exemption under section 33(1)(b) - its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person. “Person” includes a public authority, company and partnership, FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why the exemption applies are explained below.
An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to the information you have requested. Releasing the requested information would be likely to prejudice substantially the commercial interests of Suppliers. Release of this information within such a fluid marketplace is highly likely to provide an unfair advantage to a competitor which client devices: framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) client devices: framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) in turn could skew the competitive nature of other procurement exercises. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption to ensure the equal treatment of bidders. We are, however, happy to share a copy of the relevant frameworks entire agreement which has been published as part of the Scottish Government open contracting strategy and this can be found at the link below:
Mobile client device: framework agreement Web based and proprietary client devices framework Procurement - mobile voice and data services framework
3. Whether any Scottish Ministers have lost or damaged beyond repair any previous government-issued device and if so which ministers. Please list any such instances since 1 February 2020.
For the specified period we have no recorded loss or damage beyond repair regarding Ministerial devices.
4. Please list all Scottish Ministers who had a government-issued device(s) between 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2022. This should list every Scottish Minister who was in possession of such a device, the device(s) they had and how much they cost. If there is an overlap between the previous question for some ministers please state so.
Based on our records, the table below lists all Scottish Ministers who had a Scottish Government issued device(s) between 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2022. There is no overlap between the previous question (3) for any minister as, according to our records, for the specified period we have no recorded loss or damage beyond repair regarding Ministerial devices.
We can confirm that Ministers have used a range of mobile phones available corporately through our mobile contract, this has in the past included the Samsung J6, iPhone 5S and 7.
Minister SG Mobile SG Laptop SG Tablet John Swinney NO YES NO Humza Yousaf YES YES NO Kate Forbes NO YES NO Fiona Hyslop YES YES YES Shirley-Anne Somerville NO YES NO Fergus Ewing YES NO YES Roseanna Cunningham NO YES NO Jeane Freeman NO YES NO Michael Matheson NO YES YES Aileen Campbell NO YES YES Keith Brown NO YES YES Angus Robertson NO YES NO Shona Robison NO YES NO Mairi Gougeon NO YES NO Maree Todd NO YES NO Richard Lochhead YES YES YES Ben Macpherson NO YES NO Ash Regan (Denham) NO YES YES Ivan McKee NO YES NO Christina McKelvie NO YES YES Joe FitzPatrick YES YES NO Clare Haughey NO YES NO Paul Wheelhouse NO YES NO Kevin Stewart YES YES YES Jenny Gilruth YES YES NO Angela Constance NO YES NO George Adam NO YES NO Tom Arthur NO YES NO Lorna Slater NO YES NO Mairi McAllan YES YES NO Patrick Harvie NO YES NO James Wolffe QC YES YES NO Dorothy Bain KC NO YES NO Ruth Charteris KC NO YES NO Derek Mackay NO YES NO Neil Gray NO YES NO
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government we are unable to provide for the reasons outlined below.
Exemption 1. The device make and model information including historical information related to laptops and tablets you have requested because an exemption(s) under section(s) 30c (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) of FOISA applies to that information.
In considering this exemption we have taken account of the fact that disclosure of information under the FOISA is to “the world at large”, not just to an individual applicant. We are therefore required to consider the effect of releasing the information into the public domain.
We recognise that there is an inherent public interest in openness and transparency regarding the use of Government systems. However, we have to balance this interest with the ability of those conducting Government business to operate safely and securely, as well as to protect our networks and information, all of which is required to enable the conduct of public affairs.
Providing details about the information you have requested into the public domain could subsequently be used by threat actors to evade any controls we might or might not have in place.
We consider that the public interest in ensuring that the security of our systems and processes is not compromised, thereby maintaining ability to conduct affairs of public office, outweighs that of disclosing this information. We have therefore decided to withhold the information.
Exemption 2. The device cost information you have requested because an of exemption under section 33(1)(b) - its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person. “Person” includes a public authority, company and partnership, FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why the exemption applies are explained below.
An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to the information you have requested. Releasing the requested information would be likely to prejudice substantially the commercial interests of Suppliers. Release of this information within such a fluid marketplace is highly likely to provide an unfair advantage to a competitor which client devices: framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) client devices: framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) in turn could skew the competitive nature of other procurement exercises.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption to ensure the equal treatment of bidders. We are, however, happy to share a copy of the relevant frameworks entire agreement which has been published as part of the Scottish Government open contracting strategy and this can be found at the link below:
Mobile client device: framework agreement Web based and proprietary client devices framework Procurement - mobile voice and data services framework
5. Please state what happened to Nicola Sturgeon, Jeane Freeman, John Swinney’s government-issued devices, if they had any, when they ceased being Scottish Ministers and what happened to the content on them. For example, where the devices retained for use by other ministers or disposed of and was the data on the device stored by the Scottish Government or destroyed.
When Ministers stand down from office, they hand their SG laptop, and any other SG issued IT equipment (including phones) to their Private Secretary (PS). The PS then hands that IT equipment to the Ministerial Private Office team. For the three departing Ministers referenced in the request, the IT equipment was processed in line with SG guidance by their private offices. Scottish Government issued laptops are designed to store SG corporate data on our central systems. The return of these laptops does not affect this data.
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.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Enquiry Unit Email: ceu@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrews House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
Exemption 1. The device make and model information including historical information related to laptops and tablets you have requested because an exemption(s) under section(s) 30c (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) of FOISA applies to that information. In considering this exemption we have taken account of the fact that disclosure of information under the FOISA is to “the world at large”, not just to an individual applicant. Exemption 2. The device cost information you have requested because an of exemption under section 33(1)(b) - its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person.
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