Material related to the overhead line from Spittal to Beauly: EIR release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Information requested
1. All studies demonstrating the need for this project, including demand forecasts and capacity analyses.
2. Any alternatives considered, including underground or subsea options.
3. Economic impact assessments showing public benefit justification.
4. Environmental and climate impact reports used in decision-making.
5. Public consultation records and responses to community objections.
6. Communications between SSEN and the Scottish Government regarding the project’s justification.
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.
I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested, attached within Annex A and shall address each of your points in turn:
1 – 3: The terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because we do not hold this information based on the reports which we maintain.
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. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in this information, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.
4. All of the information you have requested is available from the Energy Consents Unit online portal at Scottish Government - Energy Consents Unit - Application Details. Both the Scoping Report and the Appendix C Ornithological Designated Sites are published within the documents section of the application.
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.
5. All of the information you have requested is enclosed within Annex A. For clarity, this application is currently at pre-application stage and the information released is what is held on file to date.
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.
6. All of the information you have requested is available from the Energy Consents Unit online portal at Scottish Government - Energy Consents Unit - Application Details. Information can be found within the Scoping Report, specifically page 18 under Chapter 2.2 “The Need for the Project.”
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.
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.
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