Reduction in car kilometres target: EIR release

Information requested

On Thursday 18th April the Scottish Government said it had a target of reducing car use in Scotland by 20%.

1. What information did the Scottish Government rely on to justify this figure?

2. What date does the Scottish Government intend to achieve this reduction by?

3. What was the total mileage driven using ministerial cars in 2014?

4. What was the total mileage driven using ministerial cars in 2023?

5. What date does the Scottish Government intend that it will reduce the use of Ministerial Cars by 20%?

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.

Question 1 and 2
The answer to question 1 and 2 is available on our website at A route map to achieve a 20 per cent reduction in car kilometres by 2030 | Transport Scotland and related annex: Annex: Reducing car use for a healthier, fairer, and greener Scotland (transport.gov.scot).

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. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the websites listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Question 3
While our aim is to provide to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested regarding the total mileage for the Government Car Service in 2014. This is because this information is routinely deleted, in accordance with our records management practice. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs.

Question 4
The total mileage for the Government Car Service in 2023 was 542,914.

Question 5
The Scottish Government is currently working to align with wider SG aims including working towards the commitment to reduce car use by aiming to reduce use for all Government fleet vehicles, including the Government Car Service by 20% by 2030.

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.