Early Stage Covid Pre-seed Fund: FOI release (reference 4827)

5 August 2020

1 September 2020

I would like to see the list of registered companies that received Early Stage Covid Pre-seed Funding and the amount awarded to each company.

As you may know, the Early Stage Covid Pre-seed fund is being managed by Scottish Enterprise on behalf of Scotland’s economic agencies and in partnership with organisations experienced in supporting the development of start-up businesses. These partners will work together to identify the highest potential pre-seed businesses which could benefit most from grant support.

A plan is in place to release a full list of awards shortly after the fund process is completed, comprising of a list published on our corporate website. As it is our intention to make the information you have requested publicly available, it is exempt under FOISA, in accordance with section 27 (1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002: information intended for future publication. Section 27(1) exempts information from disclosure if an authority plans to publish the information no later than 12 weeks after the date the request is made. While we are unable to provide you with a specific date for publication in this response, we can assure you that our website will be updated as soon as possible; and within the 12 week period. We will write to you again once the information is published and provide you with a direct link.

Section 27(1) information held with a view to publication

The exemption in section 27(1) allows public authorities to refuse to disclose information if they already plan to publish it within the next 12 weeks – provided it is reasonable to delay disclosing the information until the planned date of publication.

The public interest test

If the exemption is applied, authorities must go on to consider the public interest in relation to the information. This means assessing whether, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest is better served by disclosing or withholding the information.

We recognise that there is public interest in authorities applying decision-making processes in a manner that is as open and transparent as possible. We also recognise that publishing information such as funding decisions can enhance accountability and allow for scrutiny. It is for this reason that Scottish Enterprise seeks to proactively publish information on grant funding.

We consider that disclosing partial information before the full data set is available could present a misleading picture and be unfair to applicants. In balance therefore, we are of the view that it is in the public interest to apply section 27(1) to this request and uphold our decision to release complete funds data on our website once all funds processes have been completed. We wish to assure you that the decision to publish complete funds data preceded the date on which we received your request for information.