Meetings with Alexander Dennis, NFI Group and NFI International Limited: EIR release

Information requested

1. A list of all meetings between Scottish Government Ministers and representatives of Alexander Dennis and/or NFI Group and/or NFI International Limited between 1st March 2023 and 12th September 2024

2. A full list of attendees and minutes or discussion points at these meetings.

3. Any correspondence relating to the scheduling of these meetings, and the choices around who to invite.

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.

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. The answer to your question is contained within the attached document.

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.

An exception under Regulation 10(5)(e) - Confidentiality of commercial or industrial information of the EIRs applies to some the information you have requested. This is due to information pertaining to commercially sensitive information related to Alexander Dennis Limited or the ScotZEB2 scheme which would be likely result in harm to a legitimate economic interest if disclosed. It applies to information contained in 11 records and it is indicated in the document where this has been applied.

This exception 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 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 for interest in wider government transparency and interest in engagement between  Government and commercial companies. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that the economic interests of companies are not impacted, particularly where information is commercial or economic in nature and which are not in the public domain or have since changed.

An exception under Regulation 10(4)(e) - Internal Communications of the EIRs applies to some of information you have requested. This information is an internal communication which relates to the ScotZEB2 programme and which could impact on ScotZEB2 activity. It applies to information contained in 2 records and it is indicated in the document where this has been applied.

This exception 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 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 as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in high quality policy and decision-making, and in the properly considered implementation and development of policies and decisions. This means that Ministers and officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications. Their candour in doing so will be affected by their assessment of whether the discussions on the ScotZEB2 programme and activity will be disclosed in the near future, when it may undermine or constrain the Government’s view on that programme while it is still under discussion and development.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI - 202400431749 - Information released - Annex A

File type

78 page PDF

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732.1 kB