Net Zero consultations information: EIR release

Information requested

For the list of consultations below that closed in 2024, please provide the following:

1) The response ID and the text that has been redacted, including the question each portion of redacted text was associated with.

2) The exemption or exception used and public interest tests for each piece of redacted text.

Consultations

(1) Fish stocks: allocation of additional quota.

(8) Draft Environmental Protection (Single use Vapes) (Scotland) Regulations 2024.

(9) Proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill: Consultation.

(10) Social Housing Net Zero Standard in Scotland.

(11) Scotland's draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030 – consultation.

(13) National Good Food Nation Plan: consultation.

(18) Draft Bioenergy Policy Statement: Consultation

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.

1) I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested in an excel document in an accessible format as an attachment titled `Response Annex`.

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 the following exceptions apply to some information.

Under regulation 11 (2) for personal information of the EIRs. This exception applies to some names and addresses because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5 (1) of the UK 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.

Regulation 10 (5) (a) – Public Safety, has been applied to some of the information requested. 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, however, this is outweighed by the public interest in providing accurate information in order to protect members of the public.

2) In response to the second part of your request, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. Therefore, we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs.

The reason is because redactions were made to consultation responses using local procedure following our moderation policy and criteria. As responses were published as part of a consultation and not as an EIR request, redactions were not made under EIR legislation with regards to exceptions and relevant public interest tests. You can find more information about consultation guidance in this link that you can find in the Scottish Government website Consultations in the Scottish Government: guidance - gov.scot

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 202400440921 - Information released - Annex A

File type

Excel document

File size

31.5 kB