Improving environmental performance of Scottish agriculture - Fergus Ewing correspondence: EIR release

Information requested

You asked for any correspondence (letters, emails or otherwise) between Fergus Ewing and Scottish Government Officials relating to the environmental performance of Scottish agriculture and documentation outlining plans for improving the environmental performance of Scottish agriculture.

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.

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 an exception under regulation 10(4)(d) (material in course of completion) and 10(4)(e) (internal communications) of the EIRs applies to that information.  The reasons why that exception applies are explained in the Annex to this letter.

Some of the information you have requested is available from https://www.theccc.org.uk/publications/

Reasons for not providing information - Annex
An exception applies

An exception under regulation 10(4)(d) of the EIRs applies to some of the information you have requested.  Regulation 10(4)(e) applies as the material is in the course of completion, unfinished documents, or incomplete data.

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

An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs applies to some of the information you have requested.  Regulation 10(4)(e) applies as the information is classified as internal communications. This refers to information in relation to cabinet information or information between ministers. As well as internal communications in relation to background notes, ministerial briefing and Scottish Government Processes.

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. 

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-19-01686 - Information Released

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