Forestry and Land Scotland works in the Greenesk area and subsequent investigation: EIR release

Information requested

Regarding Forestry and Land Scotland works in the Greenesk area and subsequent investigation:

1. Please can you provide a map of the area restocked [in 2010] and what the planting buffer zone requirements for Private Water Supplies was at this time?

2. An email dated 20th Oct supplied in response to EIR request reference 2022/00283840 refers to 6 photos and an annotated map. Please can you forward copies of these?

3. The phone call recording, or a log write up, of what was discussed, and the outcome as it pertains to the email on 9th December supplied in response to EIR request reference 2022/00283840?

4. All communication, correspondence, meeting minutes,and any other records relating to the decision not to impose a UKFS non compliance on Forestry and Land Scotland in relation to the case in question, as noted in the response to EIR request reference 2022/00283840?

5. Queries regarding the conduct of the case in question and the subsequent investigations, of which the following relate to actions for which Scottish Forestry is responsible:

• Why was no further action taken when [Scottish Forestry’s] report states there is clear evidence of guidance not being followed?
• FLS asked Scottish Forestry what the final outcome of the report was and for clarification/confirmation of their opinion. What was this final outcome?

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

1. This is information held by Forestry and Land Scotland, and Scottish Forestry does not hold this information. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held). The reasons why that exception applies are explained in the Annex to this letter. We suggest you contact Forestry and Land Scotland at freedomofinformation@forestryandland.gov.scot with a request for this information.

2. I attach copies of the missing attachments, together with the original email for context. The omission of the attachments from the original release was an unintentional error on our part and I apologise that these were not included in the original release. An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to part of the data and this has been redacted accordingly. The reasons why that exception applies are explained in the Annex to this letter.

3. We do not hold any further documentation regarding this meeting beyond that provided in the response to EIR request reference 2022/00283840. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held). The reasons why that exception applies are explained in the Annex to this letter.

4. We do not hold any further documentation regarding this decision beyond that provided in the response to EIR request reference 2022/00283840. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held). The reasons why that exception applies are explained in the Annex to this letter.

5. Your request included a number of queries regarding the conduct of the case in question and the subsequent investigations.

The majority of these queries relate to actions taken by bodies other than Scottish Forestry. As noted in the response to EIR request reference 2022/00283840, it is for these bodies to provide an explanation of their actions and decisions, and therefore Scottish Forestry have no requirement to hold the information requested. Therefore we are refusing these queries under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held). The reasons why that exception applies are explained in the Annex to this letter. We will clarify by correspondence which bodies we believe you should contact for each query.

In relation to the actions for which Scottish Forestry is responsible:

a.) The breaches of guidance were noted in the report and discussed with FLS. The breaches were not assessed by Scottish Forestry as being sufficiently serious to warrant further action.

b.) Scottish Forestry were asked by FLS to comment on compliance with the UK Forestry Standards, and provided a report on this basis identifying a number of areas of non-compliance. However, Scottish Forestry are not in a position to be able to comment on the impact of these breaches on the water supply. In our view, this is for FLS and SEPA to determine.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202200295976 Attachments

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12 page PDF

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6.2 MB