Correspondence between the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit (ECU) and Highland Council planning officers: EIR release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Information requested
“1. All correspondence (including emails, letters, text messages, Microsoft Teams/Zoom chats, internal memos, and any other written or recorded communications) between the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit (ECU) and Highland Council planning officers, elected members, or other council officials, relating to:
- Mey Battery Energy Storage System(ECU00004838)
- Field BESS (ECU00005162)
From 1 January 2023 to the present date.
2. All records of meetings, phone calls, or site visits involving ECU staff and Highland Council representatives (officers or members) regarding either of these applications, including attendance notes, minutes, and follow-up communications.
3. Any briefing papers, reports, or advice provided by Highland Council to the ECU in connection with these applications, including both formal submissions and informal background notes.
4. Any internal ECU correspondence referring to or summarising contact with Highland Council about these projects.”
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
I shall address each of your points in turn:
Points 1,3 & 4 - Please find Annex A (1- 2) which contains the information that we are able to provide in response to your request. These will be emailed directly to you.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested owing to the following exception(s) under regulation(s) of the EIRs applies to that information:
- An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information.
- Some of the information you have requested is available from the Highland Council’s Planning Portal at the following links:
THC - MEY BESS and THC - RIGIFA BESS.
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. - An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communication) applies to some of the information.
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 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)(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.
Point 2 - While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.
The Scottish Government does not hold any records of meetings, phone calls, or site visits between the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) and highland council in relation to these applications. Therefore, there is no information available for release.
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.
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, but clearly, we cannot provide information which we do not hold.
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