Information and correspondence relating to the Deputy Director for the Future Environment Division, the 'Sponsorship Hub’ and Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS): EIR release

Information requested

1. All information held in respect of the ‘Sponsorship Hub’ which is mentioned by Tim Ellis. I confirm I am asking for all information held by the Scottish Government that relates specifically to the functions and purposes of the ‘Sponsorship Hub’.

2. An explanation as to the relationship between the Sponsorship Hub and Environmental Standards Scotland.

3. All information held in respect of the “oversight/sponsor role in respect of ESS” mentioned by Tim Ellis.

4. Copies of all correspondence between Tim Ellis and Environmental Standards Scotland.

5. Notes of any meetings held between Tim Ellis and Environmental Standards Scotland."

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.

Request for information regarding the Scottish Government Directorate for Environment and Forestry Sponsorship Hubs relationship with Environmental Standards Scotland and copies of correspondence with Environmental Standards Scotland 

Questions 1 & 3

I have included copies of the information you have requested in Annex B (attached). On reviewing materials within the scope of your request, an exception has been applied in line with the EIRs. The exception applied can be found in Annex A.

Question 2

The Scottish Government Directorate for Environment and Forestry Sponsorship Hub are the main point of contact for Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) and maintain the Scottish Government’s formal liaison relationship with ESS as outlined in the ESS Framework Document and also provide advice to ESS on appropriate contacts and organisational duties.

The document provided in Annex B (and noted in our response to Questions 1 and 3 of your request above) sets out in detail the Scottish Government’s relationship with ESS. Section 4 of said document details a number of formal functions performed by the Sponsorship Hub with respect to ESS that you may find helpful.

Questions 4 & 5

I have included copies of the information you have requested in Annex C (attached).

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

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 below noted website links, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

I wish to highlight that the email of 4 July 2025 (contained within Annex C) makes reference to a letter sent from Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) regarding recommendations from ESS’s Risks to Scotland’s Soils analytical report which has been published online by ESS and can be found here. This letter was sent in response to an earlier letter from Scottish Government officials to ESS on 8 April 2025 which can also be found here.

ANNEX A

A small amount of information has been withheld from the documents provided in Annex’s B and C under Regulation 11 – Personal Data as it contains personal information and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and in Section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the ‘public interest test’.

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 202500496678 - Information released - Annex B & Annex C

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