Capercaillie conservation correspondence: EIR release

Information requested

1. All correspondence between Minister Lorna Slater and NatureScot between January2022 and July 2023 regarding Capercaillie conservation in Scotland and action being planned and/or delivered by Scottish Government.

2. All correspondence between Minister Lorna Slater and CNPA officials between January2022 and July 2023 regarding Capercaillie conservation in Scotland and action being planned and/or delivered by Scottish Government.

3. All correspondence between Minister Lorna Slater and Cairngorms Connect partnersbetween January 2022 and July 2023 regarding Capercaillie conservation in Scotland and action being planned and/or delivered by Scottish Government.

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.

Questions 1 & 2

I have included copies of the information you have requested in Annex B.

On reviewing materials within the scope of your request, exceptions have been applied in line with the EIRs. The exceptions applied can be found in Annex A.

The Scottish Government published the updated Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2025 on 7 September 2023 which sets out the framework for addressing biodiversity loss and climate change that you may wish to review. Additionally, the Strategic Framework for Biodiversity: Consultation, published on 7 September 2023, sought views on a range of topics, including Capercaillie conservation, as well as other legislative proposals to help halt biodiversity decline.

A previous Biodiversity Strategy consultation was conducted in 2022 which informed the above noted Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045 publication. An analysis of the consultation results can be found here.

Further publications in relation to Capercaillie conservation by Forestry and Land Scotland, the Cairngorms National Park Authority and NatureScot that you may find helpful can be found at the following:

• Wildlife conservation | Forestry and Land Scotland
• Capercaillie conservation in the spotlight for CNPA Board - Cairngorms National Park Authority
• Cairngorms Capercaillie Project
• Capercaillie | NatureScot

Question 3

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested as we have no records of any correspondence between the former Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, Lorna Slater MSP, and Cairngorms Connect Partners within the time period specified in your request.

It may help if I explain that as part of the response to your request we have conducted a search of the Scottish Government’s main records filing system and have been unable to locate the information requested. I would also note that a search request was submitted to Scottish Government Officials which also resulted in no information being identified that would be within the scope of your request.

Therefore, this is a formal notice under Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs confirming that the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. It is important to note that although we do not hold the information and have applied Regulation 10(4)(a) – information not held, it is a requirement that we have to apply the public interest test.
Wider guidance on the Environmental Information regime can be found in the Key Concepts section under ‘Information Not Held’ and ‘The Public Interest Test’ in the attached Scottish Information Commissioner Briefings and Guidance document.
Further guidance on the public interest test can also be found on page 8 of the Scottish Information Commissioner guidance.

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 202400429055 - Information Released - Annex A

File type

1 page PDF

File size

119.9 kB

EIR 202400429055 - Information Released - Annex B

File type

9 page PDF

File size

319.3 kB