New Build Heat Standards and wood burning stove data: EIR release

Information requested

• The analysis undertaken by the Scottish Government which related to wood burning stoves and direct emission heating systems before introducing regulations in the New Build Heat Standards
• The estimated cost of the review of the NBHS
• The number of staff that were assigned to work on the review of the New Build Heat Standard
• Notes or briefing materials for Ministers and Cabinet Secretary’s in relation to the ban on wood burners
• Internal correspondence from both relevant Ministers in relation to the confirmation and decision making process of a) the review of the NBHS, b) the pausing of certain regulations in the NBHS and c) the decisions to amend the NBHS
• All the evidence submitted in relation to the previous and new submissions for the NBHS with reference to wood burning stoves and direct emission heating
• Any internal correspondence which includes reference to the impact of the NBHS and any consideration of business compensation
• If the Government have estimated the financial impact of the initial NBHS to the stove industry
• If the Government have considered compensating businesses who have lost revenue due to the NBHS

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 some of the information you requested as attachments to this letter. 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 of exceptions under regulations:

Regulation 6(1)(b) - (Information already available)
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. In the attached documents we have provided you with the relevant links to access this information.

Regulation 10(4)(d) - (material in the course of completion)
Under regulation 10(4)(d) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is still in the course of completion, this include unfinished documents and incomplete data.

Regulation 10(4)(e) - (internal communications)
Under regulation 10(4)(e) a Scottish public authority may refuse to disclose internal communications.

Regulation 11(2) - (personal information)
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.

These exceptions are 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 exceptions. We have applied the public interest test to each document and have found that, in some cases, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exceptions. However in others cases we agree that release of certain information is appropriate as we recognise that there could be public interest in release.

In addition to the attached information, in response to your questions regarding the estimated cost of the review of the NBHS and the number of staff that were assigned to work on the review, I can inform you that the review took place May – October 2024. All members of staff working on the NBHS were also responsible for wider heat in buildings policy development. In line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them, are not routinely recorded. As such, and as per section 10(4)(a) of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, we cannot provide information which we do not hold. However, three members of staff within the Heat in Buildings Division at different grades formed the core review team, overseen by a Unit Head as per the below. These team members spent over 50% of their time in the period May – October on the review.

Further to the above, staff members at various grades within the Building Standards Division, the Scottish Government Legal Directorate and other departments have also contributed throughout the review.

Grade	Title	Full time annual salary – range (£)
B2	Policy Officer	36,585 - 41,834
B3 (part time – 0.9 full time- equivalent (FTE))	Senior Policy Officer	45,449 - 54,419
C1 (part time – 0.73 FTE)	Team Leader	57,141 - 71,243
C2 (part time – 0.9 FTE)	Unit Head	73,757 - 85,130

In response to your questions around compensation, the Scottish Government has not considered compensating businesses in relation to the introduction of the NBHS. The original Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) discussed impact on small businesses within section 8 (specifically 8.1) but did not provide specific commentary on the stove industry. The addendum to the original BRIA discussed stove industry impacts and can be found at: Supporting documents - New Build Heat Standard (amended) 2024: business and regulatory impact assessment - 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 202400441564 - Information released - Documents 1-14

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1.4 MB

EIR 202400441564 - Information released - Evidence Documents 1-15

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1.2 MB

EIR 202400441564 - Information released - Evidence Documents 16-37

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2.0 MB