A9/A96 dualling programmes correspondence: EIR release

Information requested

1. Copies of all correspondence sent to or from the secretary of state for net zero, energyand transport, and/or correspondence sent to or from the transport minister, in 2022 to date, inwhich there is discussion of the A9 and/or A96 dualling programmes.”

We sent an email on 15 June 2022 requesting clarification. Following our receipt of your clarification on 15 June 2022, it was confirmed that your request is specific to:

“In response to this request for clarification, I’m happy to narrow the scope to cover any correspondence relation to the funding, timetable and government’s commitment to the A9 and A96 dualling projects.”

Response

As all of 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.

In response to your request above, please refer to Annex A which contains extracts from correspondence sent to and from the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport and/or the Minister for Transport, from January 2022 to 15 June 2022, in relation to the funding, timetable and the Scottish Government’s commitment to the A9 and A96 dualling projects.

Please refer to Annex B which contains extracts of submissions to the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport and/or the Minister for Transport, from January 2022 to 15 June 2022, in relation to the funding, timetable and the Scottish Government’s commitment to the A9 and A96 dualling projects.

Annex C contains extracts of internal communications to the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport and/or the Minister for Transport, from January 2022 to 15 June 2022, in relation to the funding, timetable and the Scottish Government’s commitment to the A9 and A96 dualling projects.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of 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. This exception has been applied to Annexes A, B and C contained within this response.

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) of the EIRs (internal communications) applies to some of the information because it is internal communication between Transport Scotland / Scottish Government officials and Scottish Ministers about funding arrangements, timetable and government’s commitment for the A9 and the A96 dualling programmes. This exception has been applied to Annex B contained within this response. The reasons why that exception applies are explained below.

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 some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining high quality policy and decision-making, and in the properly considered implementation and development of policies and decisions. This means that Ministers and officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications.

Their candour in doing so will be affected by their assessment of whether discussions on funding arrangements and timetable for the A9 and A96 Dualling programmes will be disclosed in the near future, when it may undermine or constrain the Government’s view on that policy while it is still under development. The information requested is internal communication regarding development of government policy and if released would otherwise impact on effective conduct of public affairs.

Further information
Although falling outwith the scope of your request we have also included responses that have been issued from Transport Scotland officials as the original correspondence was sent to the Minister for Transport.

Please note that the correspondence from Fergus Ewing MSP and Drew Hendry MP dated 27 January 2022 was subsequently withdrawn with no response to be issued. This was due to a meeting arranged and held on 31 March 2022.

In addition, although falling outwith the scope of your request we have also included responses that have been issued to those pieces of correspondence received between January 2022 and 15 June 2022 which had not been answered by 15 June 2022.

Due to the size of the files we are unable to upload the documents referred to above. If you wish to consider, please contact us at the address below and we will be happy to provide.

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.