A9 dualling project correspondence: EIR release

Information requested

1. Could you supply all documentation held by Transport Scotland which mention or and from/to Kate Forbes about the A9 dualling, from the last three months?

2. Could you supply all analysis done for or by Transport Scotland about car crashes on the A9 and whether the dualling will make it safer?

3. How much money does the programme manager who heads up the delivery team in dualling of the A9 make as a salary?

4. Could you supply analysis undertaken on how the Scottish Government's push for independence could damage the A9 dualling project or put costs up?

5. Could you supply any/all briefings prepared for Nicola Sturgeon ahead of her appearance in front of the A9 Inquiry on May 29?

6. Could you supply all minutes/notes from meetings about the A9 held in the last three months?

On 5 July we requested clarification for question 6 to confirm that your request relates to meetings with Ministers regarding the A9.

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.

1. Could you supply all documentation held by Transport Scotland which mention or and from/to Kate Forbes about the A9 dualling, from the last three months?

Please refer to Annex A for copies of all correspondence to/from/mention Kate Forbes MSP regarding the A9 Dualling Programme from the last three months, between 2 April and 2 July 2024 (date of your request). Some of this information has been redacted. Please refer to personal information exception details below.

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.

2. Could you supply all analysis done for or by Transport Scotland about car crashes on the A9 and whether the dualling will make it safer?

Please refer to Annex B and C, the 2024-2025 Annual Road Safety Review Reports for analysis of recorded personal injury collisions across the North West and North East trunk road units, which includes the A9 trunk road. Some of this information has been redacted, please refer to personal information exception details provided in the answer to question 1.

To confirm the non-trunk road parts of the A9, are not included in the reports. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Transport Scotland does not have some of the information you have requested. We do not hold this information as non-trunk parts of the A9 are the responsibility of local road authorities. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have.

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. While we recognise there may be some public interest in analysis of recorded personal injury collisions on non-trunk parts of the A9, we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

With regards to A9 Dualling, under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. I can confirm that an appraisal of the A9 Dualling Programme against Health, Safety and Wellbeing has been released as part of the Outline Business Case. This was released under Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004. Reference 202300390751 and can be accessed via the Scottish Government’s website online at:

FOI+202300390751+-+Information+Released+-+Annex+C.pdf (www.gov.scot)

Please refer to sections 2.4.8.5, 3.2.5.5, 3.2.8 and 3.2.9.3.

3. How much money does the programme manager who heads up the delivery team in dualling of the A9 make as a salary?

I can confirm that the Head of A9 Dualling Programme is C2 Grade. Details of current civil service pay grades are available at the following link;

https://work-for-scotland.org/our-reward-benefits.

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format

4. Could you supply analysis undertaken on how the Scottish Government's push for independence could damage the A9 dualling project or put costs up?

The impact of constitutional uncertainty on the A9 Dualling programme was discussed during market consultation with interested parties, and analysis of the views of those parties is set out in Section 4.4.4.2 of the Outline Business Case, which can be found at the link provided in the answer to question 2.

5. Could you supply any/all briefings prepared for Nicola Sturgeon ahead of her appearance in front of the A9 Inquiry on May 29?

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Transport Scotland does not have the information you have requested. We do not hold this information as no briefings were prepared for Nicola Sturgeon by Transport Scotland for this purpose. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have.

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. While we recognise there may be some public interest in briefings prepared for Nicola Sturgeon ahead of her appearance in front of the A9 Inquiry on May 29, we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

6. Could you supply all minutes/notes from meetings about the A9 held in the last three months?

We have interpreted your request to relate to meetings with Ministers regarding the A9. We requested clarification on 5 July, however no response was received.

Please refer to Annex D for information from minutes/notes from meetings with Ministers about the A9 from the last three months, between 2 April and 2 July 2024 (date of your request). Some of this information has been redacted, please refer to personal information exception details provided in the answer to question 1.

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 202400421477 - Information released - Annex A, B, C and D

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