Correspondence relating to the Island of Rockall: EIR release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Information requested
You asked for:
All communications between Marine Scotland and the Department of Agriculture in Ireland on the subject of the island of Rockall in July 2019.
Response
I enclose copies of some of the information you requested.
Some of the information is confidential information relating to Marine Scotland’s intelligence on catching profile.
Some of the information is personal data of a third party.
The reasons why that exception applies are explained in the Annex.
ANNEX
Exception applies
An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communications) applies to some of the information you have requested because it is internal communication about intelligence relating to catching profile.
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 a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the process of gathering intelligence on catching profile and ensuring that the Scottish Government is able conduct this aspect of its business effectively. Disclosing this information would prejudice our ability to conduct gathering intelligence on catching profile because we cannot share this data.
An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some 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.
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.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback