Correspondence pertaining to a meeting with the DPEA, the Chief Planner and others: EIR release

Information requested

1. A copy of all correspondence between the DPEA and (i) the Chief Planner, and (ii) the Planning, Architecture and Regeneration Division of the Scottish Government, in connection with the meeting of 12 April 2023.
2. A copy of the agenda and list of attendees for the meeting of 12 April 2023.
3. A copy of any papers, notes or briefings presented at, or circulated in advance of, the meeting of 12 April 2023.
4. A copy of any minutes and/or action points arising from the meeting of 12 April 2023.
5. A copy of all correspondence between the DPEA and (i) the Chief Planner; (ii) the Planning, Architecture and Regeneration Division of the Scottish Government, and (iii) the Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning (and his private office), in connection with the recall direction issued in the Mossend appeal.
6. A copy of all correspondence between the DPEA and (i) the Chief Planner; (ii) the Planning, Architecture and Regeneration Division of the Scottish Government, and (iii) the Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning (and his private office), in connection with the decision to sist a number of housing appeals on 27 April 2023.

Response

In response to your first four points as detailed above I can confirm that the meeting that took place on the morning of the 12th April and referenced in an attachment to our previous EISR response dated 17 May 2023, (reference 202300354907) was an internal meeting. Only members of staff within DPEA
where invited and in attendance.

I have enclosed the calendar invitation in this response and can confirm that there were no other correspondence items held in respect of the 12 April meeting. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. The Scottish Government does not hold the information because no agenda was issued in respect of the meeting. I can confirm that no notes, minutes or action points were taken by any of the attending parties either during or after the meeting. A follow up email was issued by the Chief Reporter, on 26 April 2023, which has already been released.

This exception 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 exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about discussions held during the meeting of 12 April, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

With regards to points five and six I can confirm after a search of our systems DPEA have not had direct in writing correspondence with (i) the Chief Planner; (ii) the Planning, Architecture and Regeneration Division of the Scottish Government, and (iii) the Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning (and his private office), in connection with the recall direction issued in the Mossend appeal nor the decision to sist a number of housing appeals. The information held by DPEA has already been released or is publicly available.

We contacted our colleagues in the Planning, Architecture and Regeneration Division (PARD) of the Scottish Government for a contribution. They have provided a copy of the recall direction which was previous released within EISR response dated 17 May 2023, (reference 202300354907), an internal email between Tom Barratt of PARD and Ellie Munro, Private Secretary to the Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning – Joe FitzPatrick MSP and the covering e-mail and recall consideration for Scottish Ministers. Copies of these documents are attached for your information.

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.

202300363845_Email

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3 page PDF

File size

307.8 kB

Calendar Invitation 1

File type

1 page PDF

File size

162.6 kB

Submission - recall consideration for PPA-400-2147 Mossend - West Lothian

File type

3 page PDF

File size

79.6 kB