The exemptions
(class-based exemptions are shown in italic text)

May be subject to Ministerial exemption certificate

Defence, security and international relations

Information whose disclosure would substantially prejudice national security or defence.

Information whose disclosure would substantially prejudice the conduct of international relations or affairs.

Information received in confidence from foreign governments, foreign courts or international organisations.

Yes

Internal discussion and advice

Information relating to:-

- the formulation or development of policy ²⁷;

Yes

- communications between Ministers or confidential communications between departments, public bodies and regulatory bodies;

Yes

-proceedings of Scottish Cabinet and Scottish Ministerial committees;

Yes

-the provision of advice by Law Officers;

Yes

-the operation of any Ministerial private office.

Yes

Information whose disclosure would, or would be likely to, substantially prejudice:-

- the maintenance of the convention of collective responsibility of Ministers;

- the frankness and candour of internal discussion, the provision of advice, or the exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation.

Communications with the Royal Household

Information relating to confidential communications

between Ministers and Her Majesty the Queen or other Members of the Royal Household, or relating to confidential proceedings of the Privy Council.

Law enforcement and legal proceedings

Information held (at any time) relating to:-

- any investigation which a public authority has a duty to conduct with a view to whether a person should be prosecuted with an offence, or whether a person prosecuted with an offence is guilty of it;

Yes

-any investigation conducted by a public authority with a view to making a report to the Procurator Fiscal

Yes

Information obtained or recorded by a public authority for the purposes of its functions (above) or other investigations and obtained from confidential sources.

Yes

Information in respect of which a claim to confidentiality as between client and professional legal adviser could be maintained.

Yes

Information held by a public authority for the purposes of an inquiry held under the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976 until the conclusion of the proceedings.

Yes

Information whose disclosure would, or would be likely to, substantially prejudice:-

- the prevention or detection of crime;

- the apprehension or prosecution of offenders;

- the administration of justice;

- the maintenance of security and good order in prisons or in other institutions where persons are lawfully detained;

-the exercise by a public authority of its functions for the

following purposes:-

* ascertaining whether any person has failed to comply with the law, or is responsible for any other improper conduct;

* ascertaining a person's fitness or competence in relation to the management of corporate bodies

* ascertaining the cause of an accident;

* the purpose of protecting charities against misconduct or mismanagement in their administration, or protecting the property of charities from loss or misapplication, or recovering the property of charities;

* the purpose of securing the health, safety and welfare of persons at work;

* the purpose of protecting persons other than persons at work against risk to health or safety arising out of or in connection with the actions of persons at work.

- any civil proceedings brought by or on behalf of a public authority arising out of an investigation conducted for any of the above purposes.

Immigration and nationality

Information relating to immigration, nationality, consular and entry clearance cases.

(However, information will be provided, though not through access to personal records, where there is no risk that disclosure would substantially prejudice the effective administration of immigration controls or other statutory provisions).

Effective management of the economy and collection of tax

Information whose disclosure could substantially prejudice the management of the economy, substantially prejudice the conduct of official market operations, or could lead to improper gain or advantage.

Information whose disclosure would substantially prejudice the assessment or collection of tax, duties or National Insurance contributions, or assist tax avoidance or evasion.

Effective management and operations of the public service

Information whose disclosure could lead to improper gain or advantage or would substantially prejudice:

- the competitive position of a department or other public body or authority;

- negotiations or the effective conduct of personnel management, or commercial or contractual activities;

- the awarding of discretionary grants.

Information whose disclosure would substantially prejudice the proper and efficient conduct of the operations of a department or other public body or authority, including NHS organisations, or of any regulatory body.

Public employment, public appointments and honours

Personnel records (relating to public appointments as well as employees of public authorities) including those relating to recruitment, promotion and security vetting

Yes

Information, opinions and assessments given in confidence in relation to public employment and public appointments made by the Scottish Ministers, by the Crown on the advice of Scottish Ministers or Ministers of the Crown, or by statutory office holders.

Information, opinions and assessments given in relation to recommendations for honours.

Yes

Voluminous or vexatious requests

Requests for information which are vexatious or manifestly unreasonable or are formulated in too general a manner, or which (because of the amount of information to be processed or the need to retrieve information from files not in current use) would require unreasonable diversion of resources.

Publication and prematurity in relation to publication

Information which is or will soon be published, or whose disclosure, where the material relates to a planned or potential announcement or publication, could cause substantial prejudice (for example, of a physical or financial nature).

Research, statistics and analysis

Information relating to incomplete analysis, research or statistics, where disclosure could be misleading or deprive the holder of priority of publication or commercial value.

Information held only for preparing statistics or carrying out research, or for surveillance for health and safety purposes (including food safety), and which relates to individuals, companies or products which will not be identified in reports of that research or surveillance, or in published statistics.

Privacy of an individual ²⁸

Unwarranted disclosure to a third party of personal information about any person (including a deceased person) or any other disclosure which would constitute or could facilitate an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

N.B. It is proposed that all personal information (other than that not covered by the Data Protection Act 1998) is handled under that Act and excluded from the scope of the Scottish FOI regime.

Third party's commercial confidences

Information including commercial confidences, trade secrets or intellectual property whose unwarranted disclosure would substantially prejudice the competitive position of a third party.

Information given in confidence

Information held in consequence of having been supplied in confidence by a person or organisation who:

-gave the information under a statutory guarantee that its confidentiality would be protected; or

Yes

-was not under any legal obligation, whether actual or implied, to supply it, and has not consented to its disclosure.

Yes

Information whose disclosure without the consent of the supplier would substantially prejudice the future supply of such information.

Medical information provided in confidence if disclosure to the subject would substantially prejudice their physical or mental health, or should only be made by a medical practitioner.

Statutory and other restrictions

Information whose disclosure is prohibited by or under any enactment, regulation, European Union law or international agreement.