Scottish National Parks funding: EIR release

FOI reference: FOI/17/02560
Date received: 23 October 2017
Date responded: 20 November 2017

Information requested

You asked for:

• How much funding have Scottish National Parks received in the last financial year from the European Commission, its programmes and agencies?

• How much funding have Scottish national parks received in the past five financial years from the European Commission, its programmes and agencies?

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to handle your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to handle your request under FOISA. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not collate the information you have requested centrally. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies are explained below.

I have set out below information that is available in the public domain from both the Cairngorms National Park Authority and the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority which I hope is helpful. I should highlight that as European funding spent within the parks could come from a range of sources, I am not able to provide a breakdown in the way you have requested.

Cairngorms National Park

Information on spend is available in the Cairngorms National Park Authority Annual Accounts which are available for the last five years at: Annual Reports

The accounts set out "Operational Plan Income from EU Sources". The Cairngorms National Park Authority is also the Accountable Body for the Cairngorms Local Action Group (CLAG) and administers EU LEADER funds as part of the Scottish Rural Development Programme. Details of this are also set out in the accounts. Please note, the Cairngorms Leader Development Strategy (LDS) boundary, on which LEADER areas are based, changed in 2014. Since 2014 the LDS has matched the National Park boundary but from 2007-2013 the LDS included an additional section of Highland and Perthshire and part of the National Park was within Aberdeenshire and Rural Tayside boundaries.

If you would like more information on spend by the Cairngorms National Park Authority you may wish to contact David Cameron at DavidCameron@cairngorms.co.uk who may be able to help you.

Loch Lomond and Trossachs

Recent Loch Lomond and Trossachs accounts are available on their website: Annual Reports

I have also attached separately those from 2012/13 (Annex A) and 2013/14 (Annex B).

Due to the file size of the documents released, copies can be provided on request by emailing ceu@gov.scot, quoting the FOI reference number FOI/17/02560

Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park does not fall within a defined LDS area, rather it lies partly within Forth Valley & Lomond and Argyll & the Islands LDS areas. I am therefore unable to tell you as far as LEADER is concerned what the spend or indicative funding allocation covering the NP areas is.

If you would like more information on spend by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority you may wish to contact Jaki Carnegie at Jaki.Carnegie@lochlomond-trossachs.org who may be able to help you.

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