Referendums in Scotland

The request was refused by Scotland Office.

Dear Scotland Office,

I would like to ask for any internal note, paper, advice, memorandum, briefing or ministerial submission held in your records which discusses the Scottish Government's legal powers to hold a referendum on Scottish independence, whether binding or advisory, without asking the UK Government for permission to do so.

Please consider files from the last 5 years.

It may assist your understanding and interpretation of my request if I explain that it is made in the context of the following article on this question published today by two legal scholars:

https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/2017/03/...

I would be very surprised if you told me that no such files are held, as I consider it unlikely that the Scotland Office never considered the question of the Scottish Government's legal powers to hold a referendum. However, should this be the position of the Scotland Office, please indicate who would be likely to hold such files instead.

In case you intend to refuse access to part or all of the files concerned, I ask that you nonetheless provide me with a schedule which reasonably allows me to identify the files withheld (e.g. by date and title or description), in order to facilitate any later challenge to the refusal of access.

Yours faithfully,

Michael Bimmler

Scotland Office

Dear Mr Bimmler,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION DB 1221

Thank you for your email of 15 March which is being treated under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We aim to issue you with a response by 12 April but in the meantime if you have a query regarding the request please contact me.

 
Moira Vance, Correspondence Manager
T: 020 7270 6735
@UKGovScotland | facebook.com/scotlandoffice
Keep up to date with UK Gov. activity in Scotland here
The UK Government’s office for Scotland | Part of the UK Governance Group

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Scotland Office

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Bimmler,

Please see response from the Scotland Office to your Freedom of Information request below.

 
Moira Vance, Correspondence Manager
T: 020 7270 6735
@UKGovScotland | facebook.com/scotlandoffice
Keep up to date with UK Gov. activity in Scotland here
The UK Government’s office for Scotland | Part of the UK Governance Group

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Dear Mr Arnold, dear Ms Vance,

many thanks for your note of today.

I must admit that I am rather puzzled by your assertion that it would take "in excess of 24 hours" to retrieve these files. If I were a Minister or Senior Civil Servant, who would like to have sight of the files on this matter, I'd not be very happy to hear that due to "the way records are filed" it takes a very long time to retrieve them. May I suggest some internal thought is given as to how records are filed, e.g. by keywords in an information management database?

Nonetheless and in the wish of avoiding further back-and-forth, I would now restrict my request to the period of 1 January 2017 until now. I trust that at least these files will be readily retrievable.

Once you have located the relevant files, I trust you will be able to look closely into the extent to which they are covered by section 42 / legal professional privilege. As you will be no doubt aware, not every internal file which discusses a 'legal matter' or makes reference to legal analysis is covered by legal professional privilege. Section 42 is a quite well-defined exemption which may apply to some but not all of the records sought. My request was by no means only meant to cover advice received from a legal advisor, which is the most likely application of Section 42. Of course, even if Section 42 comes into play, you will also need to apply the 'public interest test' for every file where you consider Section 42 to be engaged.

I look forward to hearing from you again.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Bimmler

Scotland Office

Dear Mr Bimmler,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION DB 1244

Thank you for your email of 07 April, which we received on 10 April, which is being treated under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We aim to issue you with a response by 11 May but in the meantime if you have a query regarding the request please contact me.

 
Moira Vance, Correspondence Manager
T: 020 7270 6735
@UKGovScotland | facebook.com/scotlandoffice
Keep up to date with UK Gov. activity in Scotland here
The UK Government’s office for Scotland | Part of the UK Governance Group

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Scotland Office

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Bimmler,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION DB 1244

Please see attached letter regarding your Freedom of Information request below.

 
Moira Vance, Correspondence Manager
T: 020 7270 6735
@UKGovScotland | facebook.com/scotlandoffice
Keep up to date with UK Gov. activity in Scotland here
The UK Government’s office for Scotland | Part of the UK Governance Group

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Scotland Office

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Bimmler,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION DB 1244

Please see attached response regarding your Freedom of Information request below.

 
Moira Vance, Correspondence Manager
T: 020 7270 6735
@UKGovScotland | facebook.com/scotlandoffice
Keep up to date with UK Gov. activity in Scotland here
The UK Government’s office for Scotland | Part of the UK Governance Group

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Dear Scotland Office,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Scotland Office's handling of my FOI request 'Referendums in Scotland' (your reference DB 1244).

While the exemptions quoted may be applicable to my request, I am not convinced that the public interest favours, in all instances and for the entire document(s) concerned, the withholding of the information. I am afraid that it is difficult to be more specific in my review request as you have not even disclosed what (kind of) documents you hold.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...

Yours faithfully,

Michael Bimmler

Scotland Office

Dear Mr Bimmler,

Thank you for your email of 19 June, in which you request an internal review of our response to your recent freedom of information request (our ref DB 1244). We aim to issue you with a response by 17 July but in the meantime if you have a query regarding the review please contact me.

Moira Vance |Correspondence Manager | Scotland Office | Dover House| Whitehall | London | SW1A 2AU
Tel: 020 7270 6735| www.gov.uk/scotland-office | Twitter: @UKGovScotland

The UK Government’s office for Scotland

“All e-mails and their attachments sent by any member of Private Office on behalf of a Minister relating to a decision or comment made by a Minister, or note of a Ministerial meeting, must be filed appropriately by the recipient. SO Private Office does not keep official records of such e-mails or documents attached to, or forwarded with, them.”

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Scotland Office

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Bimmler,

Please see outcome of the Internal Review of the response from the Scotland Office to your recent FOI request.

Moira Vance |Correspondence Manager | Scotland Office | Dover House| Whitehall | London | SW1A 2AU
Tel: 020 7270 6735| www.gov.uk/scotland-office | Twitter: @UKGovScotland

The UK Government’s office for Scotland

“All e-mails and their attachments sent by any member of Private Office on behalf of a Minister relating to a decision or comment made by a Minister, or note of a Ministerial meeting, must be filed appropriately by the recipient. SO Private Office does not keep official records of such e-mails or documents attached to, or forwarded with, them.”

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