Correspondence relating to Kendoon to Tongland 132KV reinforcement project: EIR release

Information requested

1. All correspondence between Scottish Ministers and the Energy Consent Unit relating to Kendoon to Tongland 132KV reinforcement project for the period 2020 to 2025 broken down year.

2. All correspondence between Scottish Ministers and the Public Inquiry Reporters Katrina Rice and David Buylla in relation to the Kendoon to Tongland 132KV reinforcement project and Inquiry Report the for the period May 2022 to date.

3. All correspondence between Public Inquiry Reports Katrina Rice and David Buylla in relation to the Kendoon to Tongland 132KV reinforcement project.

4. All correspondence between any official or Minister from the Scottish Government including the Energy Consent Unit and Dumfries and Galloway Council between April 2021 and December 2022 in relation to the Kendoon to Tongland 132KV reinforcement project and the Public Inquiry.

5. All correspondence between the First Minister or his private office and any Scottish Government Minister or department in relation to the Public Inquiry Reporter findings in relation to the Kendoon to Tongland 132KV reinforcement project.

6. All correspondence between Scottish Ministers and any other internal or external organisation in relation to the Public Inquiry Report findings.

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 have requested, attached within the relevant annexes and shall address each of your points in turn:

1. Please find attached Annex A Part 1 (Point 1 - Years 2021 & 2025 & Point 6). There was 1 document within scope of your request for 2021 and 4 documents for 2025. There is nothing for us to release for the other years you requested.

2. We do not hold any information for this part of your request.

Under 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 any information in respect of correspondence between Scottish Ministers and the Public Inquiry Reporters named within point 2 of your request and nor for the period requested.

3. Please find attached Annex A Part 2 (Point 3).

4. Please find attached Annex A Part 3 (Point 4).

5. We do not hold any information for this part of your request.

Under 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 and it may have been routinely destroyed, in accordance with our standard records management practice, before the date of your request.

6. As per the information in respect of point 1, these documents were also found to be in scope of your request and included within Annex A – Part 1 (Point 1 - Years 2021 & 2025 & Point 6).

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested for points 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 because:

• An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information.
• An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communication) applies to some of the information.
• 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.

For information which is publicly available in relation to this case please visit our website www.energyconsents.scot search – simple search – Kendoon to Tongland Reinforcement project, this includes published documents such as the decision letter. There is also the DPEA (Planning & Environmental Appeals Division) website Scottish Government - Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA)

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) of the EIRs (Internal communication) applies to some of the information requested. 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.

An exception 6(1)(b) of the EIRs (information already available) 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, as the information is already publicly available.

An exception under regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held) applies to some of the information requested. 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.

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.