Total amount paid to Jacobs and AECOM to produce the A96 Corridor Review: EIR release

Information requested

The total amount that Transport Scotland paid to Jacobs and AECOM to produce that A96 Corridor Review that was published on 28 November 2024.

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.

The total spent on the A96 Corridor Review paid to Jacobs Aecom up to the date of your request is £6,192,222.76.

The reports from the A96 Corridor Review, which were published in draft on Transport Scotland’s website (A96 Corridor Review | Transport Scotland) on 28 November 2024 for consultation, demonstrates the significant work which has been undertaken to inform future investment in this key transport corridor. Importantly, the material sets out the performance of the various packages of improvements alongside that of the current plan of the Scottish Government to fully dual the route. This will enable all interested parties to consider, compare and be fully informed of the respective performance of potential improvements to the A96 corridor including full dualling before sharing their views.

Feedback from the public and stakeholders will help inform the Scottish Government’s final decision on how best to take forward improvements to the A96 whilst also balancing the demands of the challenging economic climate, current policy and the climate emergency.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.