Recycling Improvement Fund - Midlothian Council grant assessment: EIR release

Information requested

“The Scottish Government's Recycling Improvement Fund awarded Midlothian Council £2,322,042 for the project described as "Transition to twin-stream collection service and reduced frequency of residual waste for kerbside and communal properties." This was accepted by Midlothian Council at its full Council meeting on 19 December 2023. The service launched on 23 March 2026 and experienced significant difficulties including bins not delivered to all households by go-live, website failure under demand, missed collections, and no resident-facing communications during the 25 months between the funding decision and launch.

I understand that under the Recycling Improvement Fund process, the RIF Board's recommendation on each application is presented to the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity for final ratification before any award is confirmed.

I note that Zero Waste Scotland was not subject to FOISA until 1 April 2025, meaning the Scottish Government as the responsible oversight body holds the key accountability records for this award.

Information Requested

1: The ministerial submission presented to the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity seeking ratification of the Midlothian Council grant award, including any conditions or caveats recommended.

2: The Minister's written ratification or approval of the award, including the date of that decision.

3: Any correspondence between the Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland regarding the Midlothian Council grant between December 2023 and March 2026, including any progress updates, concerns raised, or monitoring reports received.

4: Any Scottish Government records relating to whether Midlothian Council met the conditions, milestones or reporting requirements attached to the grant.

5: Any internal Scottish Government assessment of the Recycling Improvement Fund's oversight arrangements during the period when Zero Waste Scotland was not subject to FOISA, specifically regarding accountability for grant compliance by recipient councils.”

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 Midlothian Council’s application to the Scottish Government Recycling Improvement Fund

Questions 1, 2 & 3

I have included copies of the information you have requested in the attached Annexes (A) and (B).

On reviewing materials within the scope of your request, exceptions have been applied in line with the EIRs. The exceptions applied can be found in the attached Annex (C).

Question 4

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the specific information you have requested as we do not hold any internal records detailing whether Midlothian Council met any conditions, milestones or reporting requirements attached to said council’s grant made under the Recycling Improvement Fund. Therefore, with respect to your request this is a formal notice under Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs confirming that the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

It may help if I explain that as part of the response to your request we have conducted a search of the Scottish Government’s main records filing system and have been unable to locate the information requested. I would also note that a search request was submitted to Scottish Government Officials which also resulted in no information being identified that would be within the scope of your request.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. It is important to note that although we do not hold the information and have applied Regulation 10(4)(a) – information not held, it is a requirement that we have to apply the public interest test.

Wider guidance on the Environmental Information regime can be found in the Key Concepts section under ‘Information Not Held’ and ‘The Public Interest Test’ in the attached Scottish Information Commissioner Briefings and Guidance document. Further guidance on the public interest test can also be found on page 8 of the Scottish Information Commissioner guidance.

Question 5

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the specific information you have requested as we do not hold any internal Scottish Government assessments of the Recycling Improvement Fund's oversight arrangements during the period when Zero Waste Scotland was not subject to FOISA, specifically regarding accountability for grant compliance by recipient councils.Therefore, with respect to your request this is a formal notice under Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs confirming that the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

It may help if I explain that as part of the response to your request we have conducted a search of the Scottish Government’s main records filing system and have been unable to locate the information requested. I would also note that a search request was submitted to Scottish Government Officials which also resulted in no information being identified that would be within the scope of your request.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. It is important to note that although we do not hold the information and have applied Regulation 10(4)(a) – information not held, it is a requirement that we have to apply the public interest test.

Wider guidance on the Environmental Information regime can be found in the Key Concepts section under ‘Information Not Held’ and ‘The Public Interest Test’ in the attached Scottish Information Commissioner Briefings and Guidance document. Further guidance on the public interest test can also be found on page 8 of the Scottish Information Commissioner guidance.

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 202600512764 - Information Released - Annex

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