Information relating to the cladding assessment programme: EIR release

Information requested

There are 85 tower blocks in Scotland that have combustable cladding with High Pressure Laminate Cladding and 23 tower blocks with combustable polyethylene ACM cladding(ACM-PE). You have £450 million to remediate all of these tower blocks with non combustable cladding to European Classification A1 or A2. 

In relation to reference number 202100231000, I am formally putting in an environmental information request to identify the locations of these 25 residential blocks of flats in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen that are being examined under your pilot scheme in the interests of transparency and accountability.

Response

The fully funded Single Building Assessment (SBA) will provide information about the fire safety of the building. The SBA is made up of an External Wall Appraisal and Fire Risk Assessment covering the whole building and taking a broader view of fire safety than the cladding system alone.

Where problems are found, this will help to identify the scale of remediation needed to make a building safe. Bespoke and varied solutions for remediation can then be considered by homeowners. These will be practical solutions which may include a range of approaches, products and construction services.

To date the Scottish Government has received £97.1m which we are using to fund free Single Building Assessments. The UK Government made a further announcement in February 2021 about additional funds but the Scottish Government has yet to receive clarity on how much this will be or when it will be received.

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(5)(f) (Third Party Interests) of the EIRs applies to that information. The reasons why that exception applies is explained in the Annex.

ANNEX
REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION

An exception applies

An exception under regulation 10(5)(f) (Third Party Interests) of the EIRs applies to some of the information you have requested.

This exception applies where the information was supplied on a voluntary basis in the expectation that it would not be disclosed. Examples of the information potentially covered by this exception include information collected from members of the public in research or surveys. In this case, the information was provided voluntarily and disclosure of the information would, or would be likely to, substantially prejudice the interests of the person who provided the information.

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 public interest in release because of understandable concerns over home safety. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the privacy of individuals who provided personal information as detailed in the privacy notice agreed to at the point they provided their data.

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.