Funding queries regarding the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB): EIR release

Information requested

Information relating to the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB), in particular, the additional funding of up to £40 million announced under phase II in August 2025, which is to be distributed via a consortium led by Rock Road.

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.

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 for the reasons set out below.

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 information about a scheme such as ScotZEB, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

The reasons why we do not have the information have requested are as follows:

“1. Please provide a copy of the grant agreement (or similar) for the Subsidy Award made between the Scottish Government (or relevant government body) and Rock Road (‘Grant Agreement’). If a Grant Agreement has not yet been signed, please explain why not and when the Grant Agreement is expected to be signed.”

No grant agreement has been signed.

“2. In view of the Subsidy Scheme’s classification as a public subsidy within the meaning of the Act, please provide a copy of the principles assessment which concluded that the Subsidy Award is consistent with the subsidy control principles set out in Section 12 of the Act and requirements set by the Department for Business and Trade.”

The ScotZEB scheme is a legacy scheme under Subsidy Control Act, therefore no principles assessment is held.

“3. Please provide copies of all: (a) internal correspondence, including emails; (b) reports; (c) minutes of meetings; and (d) decisions, in each case relating to the Scottish Government’s assessment, determination, and decision to provide the Subsidy Award.”

No decision to provide the subsidy award has been made, therefore this information is not held.

“4. Provide any correspondence with any member of the Rock Road consortium regarding the selection criteria for selecting or placing orders with manufacturers. If so, please provide copies of all discussion minutes and correspondence (including emails, WhatsApp messages etc.).”

The criteria for phase 2 of ScotZEB are as described in the published guidance. There is no criterion regarding selecting or placing orders with manufacturers. The guidance can be found online at Scottish zero emission bus challenge fund (phase II) -Energy Saving Trust.

“5. Please confirm when the award of funding announced this August 2025 will be recorded on the UK subsidy database. If there is no intention to include this on the database, please explain why the duty to make an entry in the subsidy database in accordance with Section 33 does not apply to the Subsidy Award.”

The subsidy register for the ScotZEB programme has already been amended, through permitted modifications in September of this year. No decision around an award of funding has yet been made. Entries in the UK subsidy database relating to the ScotZEB scheme can be found online at GOV.UK - Public user schemes result page.

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.