Correspondence between BP employees and Scottish Government: EIR release

Information requested

“For the period 1st January 2024 - date, please provide:

1. All correspondence between employees of BP and the following three directorates of the Scottish Government: Energy and Climate Change, Marine, and Offshore Wind.

2. All documentation relating to meetings (in person or virtual) between employees of BP and representatives of the Scottish Government from any of the same three directorates listed above.

Response

As this request was deemed both complex and voluminous the deadline for return was extended to 14 April 2025.

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. I have provided a response for each Directorate included in the request separately below and have outlined details of any exceptions applied to the information requested and/or materials related to the request.

Marine Directorate

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exceptions under regulations 11(2) - personal information of a third party, Regulation 10(5)(e) – Confidentiality of commercial or industrial information of the EIRs applies to that information.

Personal Information of a third party

Regulation 11(2) – To the extent that environmental information requested includes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject and in relation to which either the first or second condition set out in paragraphs (3) and (4) is satisfied, a Scottish public authority shall not make the personal data available.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information of a third party) 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.

Confidentiality of commercial or industrial information

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(5) (e) of the EIRs (the confidentiality of commercial or industrial information where such confidentiality is provided for by law to protect a legitimate economic interest). An exception under regulation 10(5) (e) (confidentiality of commercial or industrial information) of the EIRs applies to the information you have requested with regard to BP. This exception applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would likely to, prejudice substantially the confidentiality of commercial information provided by BP and thus cause substantial harm to their commercial interests.

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 a public interest in disclosing information as part of open and transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies when substantial harm can be made to their commercial interests.

Some of the information you have requested regarding Morven and Flora windfarms is publicly available at the following link All application and project documentation | marine.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 website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. Most documents supplied by the Scottish Government will have been produced by government officials and will be Crown Copyright. You can find details on the arrangements for re-using Crown Copyright material on the National Archives website at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organization, from which the information originated. You must ensure that you gain their permission before reproducing any third party (non Crown Copyright information).”

Directorate for Energy and Climate Change

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.

An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) [Internal Communications] applies to some of the information requested because it relates to internal communications. This exception is subject to the 'public interest test' and, taking into account 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 favour lies in favour of upholding the exception.

Directorate for Offshore Wind

Regulation 11(2) – applicant has asked for personal data of a third party

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.

Regulation 10(5)(e) – substantial prejudice to confidentiality of commercial or industrial information

An exception under regulation 10(5)(e) of the EIRs (substantial prejudice to confidentiality of commercial information) has also been applied to some of the information you have requested as the information is commercially sensitive. This exception applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the confidentiality of commercial information provided by BP and thus cause substantial harm to their commercial interests.

The exception under Regulation 10(5)(e) is subject to the 'public interest test'. We have carefully considered whether the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. After weighing all the circumstances, we have concluded that, on balance, the public interest favours upholding the exception. While we acknowledge the public interest in transparency, particularly regarding matters that could affect environmental or public policy decisions, this is outweighed by the public interest in protecting commercially sensitive information. Disclosure of the information could harm legitimate economic interests, weaken the competitive position of the involved parties, and result in financial loss or reputational damage.

Regulation 10(4)(e) – internal communications
An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communications) applies to some of the information you have requested because it relates to internal communication between Scottish Government Ministers and officials, and between officials about offshore wind policy making progress, lines to take, and sensitive information included in briefings, emails and meeting notes.

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, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in high quality policy and decision-making, and in the properly considered implementation and development of policies and decisions. There is also a greater public interest in allowing a private space within which officials can provide free and frank advice and views to Ministers. This means that Ministers and officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications. Their candour in doing so will be affected by their assessment of whether the discussions will be disclosed in the near future, when it may undermine or constrain the Government’s view while it is still under discussion and development. Additionally, it is clearly in the public interest that Ministers can properly discuss and robustly defend the Government’s policies and decisions. They need full and candid advice from officials to enable them to do so. Premature disclosure of this type of information could lead to a reduction in the comprehensiveness and frankness of such advice and views in the future, which would not be in the public interest.

*Due to the size of the files we are unable to upload the documents referred to above.

If you wish to consider, please contact us at the address below and we will be happy to provide.

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.