Publication - FOI/EIR release

Information regarding bathing water status: EIR release

Published: 26 August 2024
Directorate: Environment and Forestry Directorate
Topic: Environment and climate change, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI-202200313008
Date received: 27 July 2022
Date responded: 1 June 2023

Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Information requested

All correspondence from / to Scottish Government officials, SEPA, Scottish Water and council related to bathing waters status.
confirmation how Scotland water quality regulations compare to rest of UK and Europe about bathing waters including rivers with any correspondence about it to/ from.
confirmation if any additional investment or long term planning is being done to tighten regulations for sewage works and CSOs and reduce sewage spills and any correspondence to from about it.

You also clarified that you were looking for information between 2020 and 2022.

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 deal with 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 deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption 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 exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

a) I have attached some of the information you have requested. An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene- the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs also applies to some of the information you have requested. Regulation 10(4)(e) allows a Scottish public authority to withhold internal communications. Internal communications between officials and Ministers which contains sensitive information should be able to take place to inform quality policy and decision making.

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. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because there is an interest in open and transparent government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in allowing internal communications between officials and Ministers to take place to inform quality policy and decision making and ensure the advice provided is robust and fully considered.

b) The Bathing Water Quality (Scotland) Regulations 2008 implement Directive 2006/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the management of bathing water quality, which specifies exactly how bathing waters are classified to ensure comparable results across Europe. The rest of the UK and all countries within the EU have implemented the Directive. The Bathing Waters (Sampling and Analysis) (Scotland) Directions 2008 direct the Scottish Environment Protection Agency on how to assess and the quality of bathing waters to meet the appropriate EN /ISO standard as required by the Directive. The Scottish Government does not hold any information on the comparison of the Scottish Regulations with those introduced in the rest of the UK or Europe and we hold no correspondence on this issue from the requested time period. 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.

Based on the information provided by EU countries, every year, the Commission and the European Environment Agency publish a summary report on the quality of bathing water and national country reports. The report tracks the water quality at more than 21,859 bathing sites across the EU, Switzerland and Albania. Copies of the reports can be found at the attached website. https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/water/bathing-water_en#overview.

I have also attached a copy of an EC Commission Report giving an overview of the implementation of the bathing Waters Directive.

c) The Scottish Government has no plans to tighten regulations for sewage works and CSOs at this time and we hold no correspondence on tightening regulations from the requested time period. 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.

In relation to additional investment for reducing sewage spills, I can confirm that SEPA published its latest River Basin Management Plans on 22 December 2021. These plans set out the comprehensive steps that all users of the water environment need to take towards achieving the Scottish Government's long-term objectives around improving water quality. In parallel, Scottish Water has published an “improving urban waters routemap” to outline how it will continue to invest in order to improve Scotland’s water environment, including by addressing discharges from CSOs. We expect further information on Scottish Water’s investment plans to be published on an annual basis on its website.

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.