Publication - FOI/EIR release

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority information: EIR release

Published: 4 November 2025
Directorate: Environment and Forestry Directorate
Topic: Environment and climate change, Public sector
FOI reference: EIR/202500478166
Date received: 30 July 2025
Date responded: 28 August 2025

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

Information requested

1. A list of all NDA governance, oversight, or sponsorship meetings attended by Scottish Government officials between July 2019 and July 2024.

2. Copies of any NDA performance reports, governance papers, risk registers or assurance updates received by the Scottish Government in the same period.

3. Any internal Scottish Government assessment, audit or correspondence confirming whether the NDA met its obligations under the 2021 NDA Framework Document to share “accurate and relevant performance, finance, assurance, legal and risk information on a timely basis.”

4. Any Scottish Environmental Protection Agency assessments, audits, reports, reviews and risk assessments conducted in order to inform the Scottish Government on the potential impact of the 2021 NDA Framework document on the Scottish Environment.

Response

Question 1

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has held three meetings on the subject(s) of governance, oversight and/or sponsorship where Scottish Government officials have been in attendance on the following dates:

26 October 2023
11 January 2022
8 July 2020

Please note that for the purposes of your request we have conducted searches for information between the dates of 1 July 2019 and 31 July 2024 in this instance.

Question 2

On reviewing materials within the scope of your request, an exception under Regulation 10(5)(e) has been applied in line with the EIRs. The exception applied can be found in Annex A.

Also 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. Where information is already publicly available I have provided you with the links to the relevant websites. 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.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) have provided documents (encompassing performance reports, governance papers, risk registers or assurance updates) to the Scottish Government during the time period set out in your request. I would note that these have subsequently been published via the UK Government’s website and I have provided links to each of these below for your convenience:

NDA Business Plans

NDA: Annual Reports and Accounts

Miscellaneous documents

Further publications from the NDA that you may find helpful can be found here.

Question 3

I have included copies of the information you have requested in Annex B.

On reviewing materials within the scope of your request, exceptions have been applied in line with the EIRs. The exceptions applied can be found in Annex A.

Question 4

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested as we do not hold any documents produced by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in relation to potential impacts of the 2021 Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) Framework document on the environment in Scotland. Therefore, with respect to your request this is a formal notice under Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs confirming that the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

It may help if I explain that whilst SEPA oversees environmental protection and issues permits for relevant activities at NDA sites, it does not have any role in relation to the NDA Framework document referred to in your request. I also wish to highlight that as part of the response to your request we have conducted a search of the Scottish Government’s main records filing system and have been unable to locate the information requested. I would also note that a search request was submitted to Scottish Government Officials which also resulted in no information being identified that would be within the scope of your request.

You may wish to contact SEPA directly as they may be able to provide the information you are seeking. Information for submitting a request for information to SEPA can be found here.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. It is important to note that although we do not hold the information and have applied Regulation 10(4)(a) – information not held, it is a requirement that we have to apply the public interest test.

Wider guidance on the Environmental Information regime can be found in the Key Concepts section under ‘Information Not Held’ and ‘The Public Interest Test’ in the attached Scottish Information Commissioner Briefings and Guidance document. Further guidance on the public interest test can also be found on page 8 of the Scottish Information Commissioner guidance.

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 202500478166 - Information released - Annex A and B

File type: PDF
File size: 126.3 kB

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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