Broadshore Hub projects correspondence: EIR release

Information requested

“I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 regarding stakeholder engagement for the Broadshore, Sinclair, and Scaraben Offshore Wind Farms (collectively referred to as the Broadshore Hub).

Specifically, I would like to request:

1. A list of fishing industry bodies, associations, or individual stakeholders consulted during the scoping and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for the Broadshore Hub projects.

2. Copies of any correspondence, meeting minutes, or consultation responses received from fishing industry stakeholders in relation to these projects.

3. Any internal assessments or summaries produced by the Marine Directorate or Scottish Government regarding the potential impact of the Broadshore Hub on commercial fisheries.

If any of the requested information is exempt from disclosure, please provide a justification for the exemption and release any non-exempt portions.”

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.

On point one, please see below a list of fishing industry bodies, associations, or individual stakeholders consulted during the scoping and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for the Broadshore Hub projects.

• District Salmon Fishery Board (Dee)
• District Salmon Fishery Board (Don)
• District Salmon Fishery Board (Forth)
• District Salmon Fishery Board (Tay)
• District Salmon Fishery Board (Ugie)
• District Salmon Fishery Board (Ythan)
• Fisheries Management Scotland
• Fishery Office (Peterhead)
• Scottish Fishermen's Federation
• Scottish Fishermen's Organisation
• Marine Directorate – Science, Evidence, Data and Digital 

With regard to point two, I enclose some of the information requested. An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some 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.

Some of the information you have requested regarding consultation responses is available at the following link :- scop-0040_- _broadshore_hub_wfdas_scoping_-_appendix_i_-_consultation_responses_and_advice_- may_2024.pdf

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.

With regard to point three, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide all of the information you have requested because an exception under regulation 10(4)(a) (information not held) of the EIRs applies. Under the terms of this exception, 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 the potential impact of the Broadshore Hub on commercial fisheries, 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.

EIR 202500481757 - Information Released - Annex

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