Just Transition Fund data: EIR release

Information requested

Q1 - Please share the latest progress reports submitted to the Scottish Government by recipients of funding from the Just Transition Fund.

Q2 - Please share the monitoring and evaluation framework for the Just Transition Fund and the reports on the Fund which have been prepared using it.

Q3 - Please provide the annual expenditure to date on the Just Transition Fund, broken down into capital allocation, Financial Transactions and revenue; and the projected expenditure in the current financial year.

Q4 - What are the Scottish Government's plans for a further call for applications to the Fund?

Q5 - Is the Scottish Government currently preparing a regional Just Transition Plan which can guide the future use of the Just Transition Fund? If so, when will it be published?

Q6 - Please provide a list of applications made by local authorities and public bodies to the Just Transition Fund; and the applicants which made them.

Response

Q1 - Final reports are enclosed for concluded projects, as well as the latest Q2 reports for current live Fund projects (See attached).

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.

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.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exception(s) under regulation(s): 10(5)(e) - Confidentiality of commercial or industrial information of the EIRs applies to that information. The reasons why that exceptions applies are explained in the Annex to this letter & 10(5)(f) - Prejudicial to interests of person who provided information / Prejudicial to interests of third party / Sensitive Information regarding development of an ongoing project(s).

As the exceptions is conditional we have applied the 'public interest test'. This means we have, in all the circumstances of this case, considered if the public interest in disclosing information outweighs the public interest in applying the exceptions. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exceptions. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about development of the successful Just Transition Fund projects to date, this is outweighed by the public interest in protecting the ongoing development of the projects.

Q2 - There is a monitoring and evaluation framework in place for Just Transition Fund. Successful Projects awarded Just Transition Fund support have grant award agreements in place with targets and milestones in place, specific to that project, against which progress in achieving objectives/expected outcomes is monitored. In the event of any changes or delays to the delivery of agreed project targets or milestones, projects are required to outline the rationale for this and where necessary seek approval or amendment to the grant agreement in place. Grant Award letters for projects also outline project reporting requirements. Projects are required to report on a quarterly basis and at the end of each financial year. Reports for projects are reviewed to ensure projects are progressing in line with agreed targets and milestones. A final report is required upon project completion. The report templates we use for monitoring and evaluation purposes are standardized for all Just Transition Fund projects within the Just Transition Fund.

Q3 - 

Financial Year	Capital	Resource	FT’s
2022-23	£ 13.5M	£0.8M	£0.5M
2023-24	£16.8M	£0.8M	£26M

 

Financial Year - 2024-25
	Drawdown to Date		Remaining Projected Forecast
Capital	£2.9M		£12.5M
Resource	£0.4M		£0.2M
FT’s	£0		£0

Q4 - There are no current plans for a further funding call this financial year We are currently commissioning an independent evaluation which will help which will help assess the value for public money and impact of investment made through the Fund to date. Additionally, the evaluation will support the development of a robust independent evidence base that can help to ensure effective use of public money for similar funds in future.

Q5 - The Scottish Government has committed to the delivery of Just Transition Plans for regions during the course of this parliament. We will initially be working with key partners, including the Just Transition Commission, existing regional partnerships, Local Authorities, community, worker and business groups, to explore options. The goal will be to learn from areas (such as the North East, Glasgow and Edinburgh) where net zero plans are already more developed, in order to design an approach that can best enhance existing work.

Q6 - Please see below the list of application made by local authorities and public bodies to the Just Transition Fund. Under EIR Regulation 11(2): Personal data, we are unable to disclose name(s) of applicants who submitted the applications to the Just Transition Fund. (Disclosure is likely to contravene data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018).

Council	Project
Moray Council	Moray Hydrogen Pilots Council Carbon Offset Sustainable Development Vacant Derelict Properties NESS Energy Carbon Capture Feasibility Study Just Transition Masterplan
Aberdeen City Council	NESS Energy Carbon Capture Feasibility Study Innovation Challenge Fund District Heating
Aberdeenshire Council	NESS Energy Carbon Capture Feasibility Study Peterhead Battery Storage New Build Energy Efficiency Community, Land and Climate Hub

Due to the size of the files we are unable to upload the documents referred to above.

If you wish to consider, please contact us at the address below and we will be happy to provide.

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.