Immigration-related land use, Equality Act compliance and safeguarding information: FOI Review
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Information requested
Original request 202500486123
1. Immigration-Related Land Use
• Recorded information (briefings, board or management papers, correspondence, leases/licences, meeting minutes, internal reports, or ministerial directions) from 1 Jan 2019–present on:
• Use, proposed use, or upcoming plans involving forestry or woodland for temporary or permanent housing of asylum seekers, refugees, or irregular migrants.
• Any involvement or consultation with the Scottish Government, Home Office, local authorities, or third-party contractors regarding such use.
• Assessments or considerations of impacts on local communities, infrastructure, environment, or protected groups.
2. Policy Frameworks and Guidance
• Any policy criteria, internal guidance, or ministerial instructions on approving non-forestry uses of woodland/forestry land (e.g., housing or community resettlement).
3. Equality Act 2010 Compliance
• Equality Impact Assessments (EQIAs), internal discussions, or correspondence about:
• Compliance with the clarified legal definition of “sex” post-UKSC ruling.
• Safeguarding or single-sex facilities on Scottish Forestry-linked projects.
• Measures ensuring neutrality on ideological matters (e.g., compelled belief) in grant or partnership arrangements.
4. Monitoring and Compliance Checks
• Any compliance monitoring reports, audits, or reviews to ensure grantees, leaseholders, or partners uphold Equality Act or safeguarding duties under forestry grants or licences.
5. Public Spending and External Influence
• Details of payments, grants, or funding provided or received in relation to:
• Accommodation or services for migrants/asylum seekers on forestry land.
• Partnerships with third-party EDI or advocacy organisations (e.g., Stonewall) influencing Scottish Forestry policies or communications.
• Existence (not content) of any legal advice obtained about Scottish Forestry’s obligations under the Equality Act or the UKSC ruling.
6. Search Methodology and Cost Mitigation
• If exemptions or cost limits (s.12) are engaged, please:
• Provide a schedule of documents withheld, the specific FOISA exemptions applied, and the public-interest test outcome where relevant.
• Offer guidance under s.15 FOISA to refine scope while preserving the most significant and representative material.
• Disclose readily retrievable or non-controversial items immediately rather than delaying for redactions elsewhere.
Your review request
You requested a review based on the arguments listed below:
1. Inadequate Searches and Unsupported “Not Held” Findings Your response claims that Scottish Forestry holds no information concerning immigration-related land use, Equality Act compliance, safeguarding, or ideological neutrality. That position is implausible.
As an executive agency of the Scottish Government exercising regulatory and grant-funding functions, Scottish Forestry necessarily interacts with other authorities on land use, equality compliance, and partnership governance.
You must explain:
• Which repositories and custodians were searched (policy, grants, equality, communications, and legal units).
• What keywords, date ranges, and systems (e.g. Rural Payments and Services platform, equality training records, partnership databases) were used.
Without this, the adequacy of searches cannot be verified.
2. Failure to Apply Section 15 (Duty to Advise and Assist) No effort was made to propose narrowing or staged disclosure despite clear opportunities (e.g. limiting to Equality Impact Assessments 2019-present or to named partnerships). This is a breach of s.15 FOISA.
3. Over-Broad or Blanket Withholding
Where exemptions under s.25(1), s.33(1)(b), or s.38(1)(b) were cited, no explanation or redaction schedule was provided. FOISA requires the least restrictive approach—release of non-sensitive factual material with specific justification for any withheld passages.
4. Equality Act 2010 and Safeguarding Duties The response fails to evidence any mechanism for ensuring compliance with the clarified legal definition of “sex” following For Women Scotland Ltd v Scottish Ministers (No 2) [2024] UKSC 12.
As a public authority subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty, Scottish Forestry must hold records of EQIAs, safeguarding checks, or related guidance. Absence of these records raises concerns about statutory compliance.
5. Contradictions and Evident Inconsistencies Your own publications contradict the “information not held” position:
• The Equality Mainstreaming Report 2023–25 refers to equality monitoring tools, training, and partnership activity—records that plainly exist.
• Scottish Forestry’s website and Scottish Government equality reports reference links with Stonewall and other EDI networks, yet your FOI response denies any such material.
• Inclusion of the Dounans 2026 Provisional Booking Form (Annex C) demonstrates a confused or incomplete search methodology—irrelevant material was located while central governance documents were omitted.
6. Public Spending & Accountability
The response ignores the request for details of any funding or partnership payments connected to EDI bodies or immigration-related projects. Grant data is centrally recorded via SG financial systems and therefore “held”. Blanket denials breach s.1 FOISA.
7. Remedies Sought
Please:
1. Conduct fresh searches across all directorates and relevant systems.
2. Provide a search-adequacy statement (custodians, repositories, keywords, and dates).
3. Produce an itemised schedule of all withheld or “not held” documents with cited exemptions and public-interest-test outcomes.
4. Disclose, in whole or redacted form, any Equality Act, safeguarding, or EDI-partnership material identified.
5. Re-apply s.33 and s.38 narrowly, ensuring release of non-personal or non-commercial data.
6. Offer to advise and assist on narrowing if any residual cost issues arise.
Conclusion
The response fails to meet the requirements of FOISA sections 1, 15 and 17, and is inconsistent with Scottish Forestry’s statutory obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty.
I therefore request a full review and revised disclosure within 20 working days as required by section 21 of FOISA.
Response
I have now completed my review of the response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and have concluded that there are some modifications to the response with reference 202500486123.
I have contacted members of Scottish Forestry for updates on your FOI response and new searches were carried out. I will now go through your 6 questions with my review response.
1. Immigration-Related Land Use
• Recorded information (briefings, board or management papers, correspondence, leases/licences, meeting minutes, internal reports, or ministerial directions) from 1 Jan 2019–present on:
• Use, proposed use, or upcoming plans involving forestry or woodland for temporary or permanent housing of asylum seekers, refugees, or irregular migrants.
• Any involvement or consultation with the Scottish Government, Home Office, local authorities, or third-party contractors regarding such use.
• Assessments or considerations of impacts on local communities, infrastructure, environment, or protected groups.
I am upholding section 17(1) of FOISA informing you that Scottish Forestry does not hold the information you requested.
A search of the corporate file storage system and the interim Chief Executive’s mailbox concluded that we do not hold this information.
In carrying out our duty to advise and assist under section 15 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I would advise that you contact the Scottish Government Directorates who contribute to the Land Use Strategy namely, Agriculture and Rural Economy Directorate, Energy and Climate Change Directorate, Environment and Forestry Directorate, Jobs and Wellbeing Economy Directorate, Planning, Architecture and Regeneration Directorate. Please contact ceu@gov.scot in the first instance who will triage your request.
2. Policy Frameworks and Guidance
• Any policy criteria, internal guidance, or ministerial instructions on approving non-forestry uses of woodland/forestry land (e.g., housing or community resettlement).
I am upholding section 17(1) of FOISA informing you that Scottish Forestry does not hold the information you requested.
A search of our corporate file storage system returned no information in relation to your request. The Director of Policy and Practice was contacted and confirmed that we do not hold information in relation to your request. Approval of deforestation (for any purposes) falls under Environmental Impact Assessment legislation and is focused on environmental sensitivities. There are no policy criteria, internal guidance or ministerial instructions that are both of relevance to the request and within the purview of Scottish Forestry.
In carrying out our duty to advise and assist under section 15 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I would advise that you contact the Scottish Government Local Government and Housing Directorate Local Government and Housing Directorate - gov.scot and the Planning, Architecture and Regeneration Directorate Planning, Architecture and Regeneration Directorate - gov.scot
“Section 25(1) of FOISA, we are not required to provide you with information that is already reasonably accessible to you” this was used in the FOI reference 202500486123 because 2 links to our website had been shared with you.
3. Equality Act 2010 Compliance
• Equality Impact Assessments (EQIAs), internal discussions, or correspondence about:
• Compliance with the clarified legal definition of “sex” post-UKSC ruling.
• Safeguarding or single-sex facilities on Scottish Forestry-linked projects.
• Measures ensuring neutrality on ideological matters (e.g., compelled belief) in grant or partnership arrangements.
A link to Scottish Forestry Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) has been sent to you in the FOI response reference 202500486123.
A link to Scottish Forestry Equality Mainstreaming Report 2019-2021 and Equality Mainstreaming Report 2021-2023 has been sent to you in the FOI response reference 202500486123. I am now disclosing the Equality Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 which is not currently published on our new website. Due to the size of the document this will be sent to you directly through email instead of through our corporate correspondence system.
Scottish Foresty are currently waiting for guidance from Scottish Government regard compliance with the clarified legal definition of “sex” post Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
I am disclosing an email discussion on single sex facilities in buildings that house Scottish Foresty staff as we await further guidance. This document has been redacted under Section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) — (Personal Information) because it contains personal information such as names.
Scottish Forestry staff are provided with learning modules through our learning platform Pathways on EQIAs and Inclusive Culture.
In carrying out our duty to advise and assist under section 15 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I would advise that you contact the Scottish Government People Directorate People Directorate - gov.scot and the Scottish Procurement and Property Directorate Scottish Procurement and Property Directorate - gov.scot
“Section 25(1) of FOISA, we are not required to provide you with information that is already reasonably accessible to you” this was used in the FOI reference 202500486123 because 2 links to our website and 1 link to the Scottish Government website had been shared with you.
Section 38(1)(b) (personal information) and section 33(1)(b) (prejudice to commercial interest) had been applied to annex C in the FOI reference 202500486123 and reviewing the redactions I am of agreement that this document has not been over redacted.
4. Monitoring and Compliance Checks
• Any compliance monitoring reports, audits, or reviews to ensure grantees, leaseholders, or partners uphold Equality Act or safeguarding duties under forestry grants or licences.
I am upholding section 17(1) of FOISA informing you that Scottish Forestry does not hold the information you requested. These issues don’t form part of forestry grants /permissions and aren’t monitored or audited.
5. Public Spending and External Influence
• Details of payments, grants, or funding provided or received in relation to:
• Accommodation or services for migrants/asylum seekers on forestry land.
• Partnerships with third-party EDI or advocacy organisations (e.g., Stonewall) influencing Scottish Forestry policies or communications.
• Existence (not content) of any legal advice obtained about Scottish Forestry’s obligations under the Equality Act or the UKSC ruling.
I am upholding section 17(1) of FOISA informing you that Scottish Forestry does not hold the information you requested. Scottish Forestry do not make any grant payments to EDI bodies or immigration related projects.
Scottish Forestry does not have formal links to organisations such as Stonewall.
In carrying out our duty to advise and assist under section 15 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I would advise that you contact the Scottish Government Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights Directorate Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights Directorate - gov.scot
This FOI release may be of interest to you Scottish Government funding to Stonewall UK: FOI release - gov.scot
6. Search Methodology and Cost Mitigation
• If exemptions or cost limits (s.12) are engaged, please:
• Provide a schedule of documents withheld, the specific FOISA exemptions applied, and the public-interest test outcome where relevant.
• Offer guidance under s.15 FOISA to refine scope while preserving the most significant and representative material.
• Disclose readily retrievable or non-controversial items immediately rather than delaying for redactions elsewhere.
There are no documents being withheld.
Guidance has now been provided under section 15 which directs you to Scottish Government Directorates that may be able to assist you with your request.
No documents have been delayed from release.
A searches document is also being shared with you.
About FOI
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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