Publication - FOI/EIR release

Information on Whiteshore Cockles since 1st May 2021: EIR release

Published: 19 August 2021
Directorate: Agriculture and Rural Economy Directorate
Topic: Environment and climate change, Marine and fisheries, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202100225785
Date received: 26 July 2021
Date responded: 13 August 2021

Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Information requested

Information on Whiteshore Cockles since 1 May 2021 including any emails, letters, Cabinet Briefings, photos, videos and other information. Also to include the correspondence cited in the letter, attached to request, from the Scottish Government; namely the letter/email from the Scottish Government on 5 July 2021 and reply on 6 July 2021 from Whiteshore Cockles.

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 attach a copy 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)(e), internal communications, of the EIRs applies to that information. The reasons why that exception applies are explained in Annex A to this letter.

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.