Addressing Depopulation Action Alan: FOI release

Information requested

1. Could you supply all the actions the Scottish Government is taking to address depopulation?

2. Could you supply all documentation held about plans to curb depopulation, including policy proposals, correspondence sent and received, briefing notes, and minutes/notes from meetings, from the last three months?

3. What were the reasons behind the Depopulation Action Plan 2023 being delayed until February 2024?

Response

1. Under section 25(1) of Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, this information does not need to be released as part of this request as it is reasonably obtainable. All of the actions the Scottish Government is taking with regards to depopulation are set out within the main text and the annex of the Addressing Depopulation Action Plan, which can be found here: Supporting and enabling sustainable communities: action plan to address depopulation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

2. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit. Under section 12 of FOISA, public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600. The exemption has been applied as the time taken to review the volume of potentially in scope records identified would result in the cost limit being exceeded. You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600, for example by narrowing the timeframe of your request. You may find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner’s ‘Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs’ on this website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx. 

3. The publication of the Addressing Depopulation Action Plan was delayed to February 2024 in order to ensure that within a challenging budget environment, we could consider how to maximise the impact that our interventions can have in supporting the sustainability of communities affected by population decline. Additionally, this provided an opportunity to undertake further stakeholder engagement, building on the extensive collaboration which had taken place in the development of the Action Plan. 

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.