Marine Scotland site visits to Isle of Luing and Torsa Beag Causeway 2021/22: EIR release

Information requested

“MS inspectors visited to asses, and subsequently oversee remediation works on the unlicensed, (therefore unlawful) Causeway development between the Isle of Luing And Torsa Beag between September 2021 and August 2022.

Please supply:

1. All the dates and times at which MS staff arrived and departed from the site.

2. Details of professional and/or technical qualifications for all MS staff that have visited the site with regard to:-

• Hydrographic Surveying,
• Tide/current Prediction,
• Coastal Engineering,
• Coastal Management and Planning,
• Coastal morphology/ Sediment deposition, Environmental impacts.”

Response

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of 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.

1. The dates and times at which MS staff arrived and departed from the site visits between the dates you have specified can be found in the table provided below:

Visit No	Date	Officers	Start	Finish	Qualification
1	24/09/2021	2 x Marine Enforcement officers	13:30	14:30	Marine Enforcement officers
2	19/11/2021	2 x Marine Enforcement officers	10:30	11:00	Marine Enforcement officers
3	24/11/2021	2 x Marine Enforcement officers	13:30	15:00	Marine Enforcement officers
4	21/12/2022	2 x Marine Enforcement officers	09:10	13:10	Marine Enforcement officers
5	20/04/2022	3 x Marine Enforcement officers	14:00	15:00	Marine Enforcement officers
6	15/07/2022	1 x Marine Enforcement officers	11:49	13:10	Marine Enforcement officers

2. Details of professional and/or technical qualifications for all MS staff that have visited the site with regard to:-

• Hydrographic Surveying,
• Tide/current Prediction,
• Coastal Engineering,
• Coastal Management and Planning,
• Coastal morphology/ Sediment deposition, Environmental impacts."

All decisions regarding the remedial steps required under section 44 Remediation Notice issued to the person responsible for the unlicensed works were made collectively by officials from Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate based on all available evidence collected and provided. This includes officials from Marine Directorate – Licensing Operations Team and Marine Directorate Compliance. The professional and technical qualifications listed in the EIR are not required for the roles the officials hold, however the Licensing officials involved do have experience in assessing evidence on impacts of activities on the Scottish marine area, including the environment, coastal processes, coastal management and sediment deposition.

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