Aberdeen City Council correspondence regarding Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC): EIR release

Information requested

Copies of all emails sent by Aberdeen City Council staff to your own staff, and of all emails sent by your own staff to Aberdeen City Council in which raac is mentioned - sent/received between August 1, 2024, and the present day.

For clarity, I am not interested in incidental mentions. I am interested in conversations in which the removal of raac from properties in Aberdeen (and related issues) are being discussed in a work setting, not personal discussions. This should help you narrow down the relevant departments.

Also for clarity, if the phrase 'raac' is mentioned in an initial email, I would like to see each subsequent email within that conversation.

I am happy for you to redact the names and titles of third-party staff and your own junior officers, but not your own senior officers,

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested in the format you asked for in the attached annex.

Additional information relevant to your request is available on the Aberdeen City Council’s website: https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/housing/raac-council-housing and https://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=122&MId=9106&Ver=4. 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 listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to all 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(4)(d) of the EIRs applies to some of the information you have requested. This relates to material that is in the course of completion, which has been shared between the Scottish Government and Aberdeen City Council to aid in their response to the issue of RAAC.

An exception under regulation 10(5)(d) of the EIRs applies to some of the information you have requested. This relates to material provided by officials where disclosure would harm the confidentiality of proceedings.

An exception under regulation 10(5)(e) of the EIRs applies to some of the information you have requested. This relates to material provided by officials where disclosure would prejudice substantially the confidentiality of commercial or industrial information.

Exceptions under regulations 10 (4)(d), 10(5)(d) and 10(5)(e) of the EIRs 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 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 because the issue of RAAC in housing owned by Aberdeen City Council is of interest to the public. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in the flow of free and frank discussions within Government and formulation of an appropriate response in dealing with RAAC in housing.

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 202400442064 - Information released - Annex

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