Publication - FOI/EIR release

Correspondence in regards to the presence reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete within the building estate: FOI Review

Published: 9 September 2024
Directorate: Local Government and Housing Directorate
Topic: Housing, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202300374708 Review of 202300369638
Date received: 11 September 2023
Date responded: 4 October 2023

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Information requested

Original Request 202300369638

"Please provide me with a copy of any correspondence the Scottish Government has received from a) Police Scotland, b) Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, c) East Lothian Council and d) West Lothian Council in regards to the presence or suspected presence reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete within their building estate".

Response

I have now completed my review (case reference 202300374708) of our failure to respond to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) of 2 August 2023 where you asked for the following:

In accordance with section 21(4) of FOISA, I have also reached a decision on your request (case reference 202300369638). A number of factors resulted in the delay in the issue of the response to your original request for information and we offer our apologies for this delay.

We were remiss in not issuing a holding response, as a courtesy, on the 31 August once it became apparent that the final response would not be issued within 20 days. Whilst the level of activity on that day was significant, this should not have prevented the issue of such a communication. For this we apologise.
The request for clearance of the response to your original request was not made early enough to assure a response by the due date. Engagement with third parties in relation to material provided within the response should have been actioned earlier to provide sufficient time for submission and clearance of the final reply. The need for earlier action on such issues has been conveyed to the original action officer. For this we apologise.
The case was reconsidered in the context of media announcements on Schools closures in England on 31 August, and the response was further assessed. Due to the complex and lengthy nature of the FOI, this required detailed consideration. Unfortunately, this process was elongated by a combination of staff absence and pressure of competing priorities. That assessment was not undertaken timeously. For this we apologise.

I can now provide our response to your original request dated 2 August 2023 under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

Response to your request

A copy of the correspondence the Scottish Government has received with regards to the presence or suspected presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete within their building estate is provided from Police Scotland in Appendix A, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in Appendix B, East Lothian Council in Appendix C and West Lothian Council in Appendix D.

FOISA Exemptions

An exemption under S25(1) has been applied to Document 5 as the information is otherwise accessible and forms part of the Scottish Fire Service Board meeting papers issued in advance of their meeting on 31 March 2023 available at Document | Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (firescotland.gov.uk), see page 126.

An exemption under Section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information disclosed in Document 12 . This exemption applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of third-party commercial suppliers to East Lothian Council. 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. 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 by East Lothian Council. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies which enter into public contracts, to ensure that the public sector are always able to obtain the best value for public money.

An exemption under Section 38 (1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and contact details of individuals, 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 exemption 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 exemption.

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.