Scottish Green Public Sector Estate Decarbonisation Scheme spend: EIR release

Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.


Information requested

3. How much money has been spent on the Scottish Green Public Sector Estate Decarbonisation Scheme overall and could you supply a breakdown of what the money has been spent on?

4. Could you supply all documentation held, including correspondence sent to and from the Scottish Government (including internal), briefings, analysis and minutes/notes from meetings, about the heat pump market in Scotland, from the last three months?

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.

Response to your request

Q.3 I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested. In response to Q3, Annex A provides a breakdown of the total funds spent on the Scottish Central Government Energy Efficiency Grant Scheme (Pre-Capital), Scotland's Public Sector Heat Decarbonisation Fund and Scottish Public Sector Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme which sit underneath the Scottish Green Public Sector Estate Decarbonisation Scheme (GPSEDS) in addition to all other costs associated with GPSEDS. This spreadsheet provides the name of the organisation, grant award amount and a brief description of the project to show what the funds have been spent on.

In regards to the Central Government Energy Efficiency Grant Fund, a breakdown of capital grant award and what this money was spent on is currently available within the progress reports published by GPSEDS. These are available online at the following links:

2021/2022 projects: Central Government Energy Efficiency Grant Fund: 2022 Q1 Projects - gov.scot
2023 onwards projects: Supporting documents - Central Government Energy Efficiency Grant Scheme Progress Report - 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.

Q4. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because an exception under regulation 10(4)(c) (Requests formulated in too general a manner) of the EIRs applies to that information. This exemption may only be applied where we also comply with regulation 9: the provision of advice and assistance. Regulation 9 outlines that where a public authority decides that an applicant has formulated a request in too general a manner, it shall— (a) ask the applicant as soon as possible and in any event no later than 20 working days after the date of receipt of the request, to provide more particulars in relation to the request; and (b) assist the applicant in providing those particulars.

As the exception is conditional we have applied the ‘public interest test’. This means we have, in all the circumstances of this case, considered if the public interest in disclosing 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. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about the heat pump market/industry, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring the efficient and effective use of public resources. It would not be a good use of our limited resources to guess what information you require and to then spend time locating, retrieving and providing information which may not be what you are actually looking for.

A clarification question was issued to you on 10th January to which you responded:

'I'm looking for information about the Scottish heat pump market and industry, i.e. sales, availability etc.'

When conducting an initial eRDM search using combinations of the phrases provided, over 3,700 potentially in scope results were found. After canvassing a wide range of colleagues, this would increase substantially. The clarification does not enable us to focus this search any further, with initial returns remaining at a similar level.

Your request is, therefore, considered to be formulated in too general a manner as it is not clear the specific information in relation to the many different aspects of the heat pump market and industry you are looking for, even when restricted to the last three months. Therefore, I am unable to answer your request as regulation 10(4)(c) (Requests formulated in too general a manner) applies in this case.

However, if you wish to submit a new request which more clearly describes the specific information you are looking for, we would be able to consider your request and respond in accordance with the EIRs. If you need any further advice and assistance to rephrase your request, please contact me. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner’s ‘Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs’ on his website at: https://www.foi.scot/how-do-i-ask.

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.

EIR 202500446847 - Information Released - Annex A

Contact

Please quote the FOI reference
Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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