Cost of the Moy to Tomatin section of the A9: EIR release

Information requested

Following Transport Secretary Jenny Gilruth's statement confirming the A9 will not be dualled by 2025, could I request the following information under Freedom of Information:

1. On what date was the decision made by Scottish Ministers that the cost of the Moy to Tomatin section was too high to represent value for money?

2. Can you provide any other additional information regarding this decision that may be available?

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.

On what date was the decision made by Scottish Ministers that the cost of the Moy to Tomatin section was too high to represent value for money?

The Scottish Ministers decided that no contract award should be made for the Tomatin to Moy project on 3 February 2023.

Can you provide any other additional information regarding this decision that may be available?

Please refer to Annex A

Regulation 10(5)(e) – substantial prejudice to confidentiality of commercial or industrial information

An exception under regulation 10(5)(e) of the EIRs (substantial prejudice to confidentiality of commercial information) applies to some of the information you have requested. This exception applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the confidentiality of commercial information provided by the Tenderer and thus cause substantial harm to their commercial interests.

Given the forthcoming procurement, disclosing this information would be likely to give future tenderers an advantage in the future tender exercise and may also substantially prejudice the tenderer’s ability to submit competitive tenders and so could significantly harm their commercial business.

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 a public interest in disclosing information as part of open and transparent government, and to help account for the expenditure of public money. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies which tender for Transport Scotland’s contracts, to ensure that we are always able to obtain the best value for public money.

Regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communications)

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communications) applies to some of the information because it is internal communication between Transport Scotland / Scottish Government officials and Scottish Ministers about the decision not to award the A9 Dualling: Tomatin to Moy contract. This exception has been applied to some of the information relating to the decision. The reasons why that exception applies are explained below.

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 as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining high quality policy and decision-making, and in the properly considered implementation and development of briefing material, policies and decisions. This means that Ministers and officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications.

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.

FOI 202300342817 - Information released

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