Correspondence with Clackmannanshire Council regarding Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC): EIR release

Information requested

A copy of the minutes and other papers, correspondence etc relating to a meeting between the Minister for Housing and Clackmannanshire Council regarding RAAC or funding for RAAC remediation / compulsory or negotiated purchase of affected homes. In addition, you requested any further correspondence, minutes of meetings etc on the subject of RAAC in Clackmannanshire homes.

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.

Response to your request

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested in the format you asked for.

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

An exception under regulation 10 (4)(d) of the EIRs applies to some of the information you have requested. This relates to material that is in the course of completion, which has been shared between the Scottish Government and Clackmannanshire Council to aid in their response to the issue of RAAC in the homes that they own.

An exception under regulation 10 (5)(f) of the EIRs also applies to some of the information you have requested. This relates to information that was provided to the Scottish Government by Clackmannanshire Council, in order to aid the Scottish Government’s response to the issue of RAAC in housing owned by Clackmannanshire. However, the release of this information would likely be harmful to the interests of Clackmannanshire Council and their ability to formulate an appropriate response to the issue of RAAC in their housing stock.

Exceptions under regulations 10 (4)(d) and 10 (5)(f) of the EIRs are 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 the issue of RAAC in housing owned by Clackmannanshire Council is of interest to the public. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in the flow of free and frank discussions within Government and formulation of an appropriate response in dealing with RAAC in housing.

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.

EIR 202400405446 - Information Released - Annex

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23 page PDF

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