Complaints related to SSE operated wind turbines and adverse health impacts from emissions: EIR release

Information requested

1. Complaints related to SSE operated wind turbines and adverse health impacts from turbine emissions.

2. Complaints related to energy developers other than SSE and adverse health impacts from turbine emissions.

3. The response of the Scottish Government to the above complaints.

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

The Scottish Government defines an official complaint as an expression of dissatisfaction about the organisation and may include:

• failure to provide a service
• inadequate standard of service
• treatment by or attitude of a member of staff
• disagreement about a decision where the customer use another procedure to resolve the matter (for example an appeal)
• the Scottish Government's failure to follow the appropriate administrative process

All official complaints are filed and whilst searching for the information you have requested, zero complaints were returned within the scope of your request.

I have also searched all other Scottish Government files for material within the scope of your request. I enclose a copy of an email and response within scope.

Finally, some of the information you have requested is available from the Department of Planning & Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA). The DPEA determine certain appeals against decisions made by planning authorities and other bodies across Scotland. A reporter appointed by ministers decides most appeals. In a small number of cases, ministers will make the decision following the appointed reporter's submissions and recommendations.

During my searches the following documents published on the DPEA website fall within the scope of your request:

https://www.dpea.scotland.gov.uk/Document.aspx?id=463668 – 005.001 - SSE summary of noise surveys and complaints to date.

https://www.dpea.scotland.gov.uk/Document.aspx?id=987572 – Closing Submissions & Summary of Case - Grosvenor Consultancy.

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. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

If you did not mean for your request to be interpreted in this way you may submit another request which more clearly describes the information you are looking for. We will then consider that request and respond in accordance with the EIRs. If you need any further advice or assistance to rephrase your request, please contact me.

ANNEX

An exception applies

Regulation 11(2) – applicant has asked for personal data of a third party

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.

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.

EIR 202400433416 - Information Released - Annex A

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