Upgrade to A90/A937 Laurencekirk south junction: EIR release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004
Information requested
“Regarding Transport Scotland plans to upgrade the A90/A937 south junction at Laurencekirk, may I ask:
1. For a copy of correspondence between Aberdeenshire Council and Scottish Ministers/Transport Scotland regarding the upgrade since May 2022; both sent and received
2. For a copy of any ministerial correspondence mentioning "Laurencekirk junction" or "A90 upgrade" since May 2022.”
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.
Please find enclosed the requested information at Annex A to this letter. Attachments to the emails as noted within Annex A are contained within Annex A.1 along with requested Ministerial correspondence.
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 Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998. 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.
The information withheld in the disclosed documents are personal details, addresses and signatures.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance an exception under regulation 10(4)(d) of the EIRs (unfinished or incomplete information) also applies to some of the information you have requested. This exception applies because that information is material which is still in the course of completion and relates to establishing a written agreement on the Heads of Terms between Transport Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council for the replacement of the Oatyhill Bridge as part of on-going objection resolution negotiations with the local authority.
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 however, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that unfinished or incomplete information which is still in being worked on or is under active consideration is not disclosed when it might misinform the public or give a misleading impression of the Government’s view or position on the matter to which the information relates. I can confirm that discussions continue with Aberdeenshire Council with a view to resolving it’s statutory objection to the proposed scheme.
A further exception applies. Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. In this case, the Partnership Group Meeting Minutes of 1 April, 26 October & 7 December 2021 have already been released under FoIs 202200299560 & 202200299574 and do not therefore form part of this release.
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