Ofgem and National Energy System Operator (NESO) correspondence: EIR Review

Information requested

Original request 202600512326

Further to the delay in publishing a National Energy Strategy for Scotland, I am submitting this Freedom of Information request to ascertain the Scottish Government's current thinking and the evidence that underpins that current position.

In particular, I am interested to learn how the Government's position has been impacted by reports published from start 2025 to present by Ofgem and NESO on grids connection reform and the development of Regional Energy Spatial Plans.These documents include:

•  "Decision on Connection Reform Package (TMO4+)", published by Ofgem in April 2025;
•  the series of reports published by NESO during 2025 under the broad title on their website, entitled "Implementing Connection Reform", specifically CUSC, CMP434, CMP435 and "Connections Reform Detailed Results".

Given the effect of these development strategies would be to constrain the development pipeline in Scotland (zones T1 and D1 and zones D1 and D2) for onshore, offshore and BESS grid connections until the next allocation round beyond 2030, I specifically request:

• all correspondence sent by Scottish Ministers from start 2025 to present which refers to, discusses or otherwise mentions the relevant Ofgem and NESO documents referenced above: this shall include

a) all relevant internal correspondence between Scottish Ministers and Scottish government officials and civil servants from start 2025 to present and

b) all relevant correspondence between Scottish Ministers and other governments, regulators, public bodies and stakeholders from start 2025 to present.

• copies of internal assessments, analyses, briefing papers, reports or similar held by the Scottish Government which consider or evaluate the implication (impact?) of Ofgem's and NESO's strategies referenced above including but not limited to:
• implications for the development of a National Energy Strategy for Scotland,
• implications for onshore renewable energy developments in Scotland,
• implications for offshore renewable energy developments in Scotland's coastal waters,
• implications for electricity storage infrastructure, including BESS, and
• implications for electricity transmission (and distribution?) infrastructure and grid capacity.

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs) for

Further to the delay in publishing a National Energy Strategy for Scotland, I am submitting this Freedom of Information request to ascertain the Scottish Government's current thinking and the evidence that underpins that current position.

In particular, I am interested to learn how the Government's position has been impacted by reports published from start 2025 to present by Ofgem and NESO on grids connection reform and the development of Regional Energy Spatial Plans.These documents include:

•  "Decision on Connection Reform Package (TMO4+)", published by Ofgem in April 2025;
•  the series of reports published by NESO during 2025 under the broad title on their website, entitled "Implementing Connection Reform", specifically CUSC, CMP434, CMP435 and "Connections Reform Detailed Results".

Given the effect of these development strategies would be to constrain the development pipeline in Scotland (zones T1 and D1 and zones D1 and D2) for onshore, offshore and BESS grid connections until the next allocation round beyond 2030, I specifically request:

• all correspondence sent by Scottish Ministers from start 2025 to present which refers to, discusses or otherwise mentions the relevant Ofgem and NESO documents referenced above: this shall include

a) all relevant internal correspondence between Scottish Ministers and Scottish government officials and civil servants from start 2025 to present and

b) all relevant correspondence between Scottish Ministers and other governments, regulators, public bodies and stakeholders from start 2025 to present.

• copies of internal assessments, analyses, briefing papers, reports or similar held by the Scottish Government which consider or evaluate the implication (impact?) of Ofgem's and NESO's strategies referenced above including but not limited to:
• implications for the development of a National Energy Strategy for Scotland,
• implications for onshore renewable energy developments in Scotland,
• implications for offshore renewable energy developments in Scotland's coastal waters,
• implications for electricity storage infrastructure, including BESS, and
• implications for electricity transmission (and distribution?) infrastructure and grid capacity.

Response to your request

I have been asked to re-examine your request, to decide whether the original response should be confirmed, with or without modifications, as appropriate, or a fresh decision be substituted. I can confirm that I was not involved in the handling or decision-making around the original response. I have considered this case again, and have conducted a comprehensive review of the response, and the exceptions applied to withhold some information.

I have concluded that the original decision should be confirmed with modifications.

Firstly, I would like to apologise as some errors were made in relation to the handling of your initial response. Some of the information that was labelled as "Redacted" was out of scope of your request and should have been clearly labelled as such. I acknowledge that the response to the request gave the impression that it was being withheld under an exemption. I apologise that this was not made clear from the outset.

Having reviewed the case, I can confirm that we are maintaining our reliance on Regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (Personal information), and that I am satisfied that this exception was correctly applied to withhold personal data. However, I have concluded that some information that was originally withheld under regulations 10(4)(e) (internal communications) and all information originally withheld under 10(5)(f) (substantial prejudice to third party interests) should be disclosed.

Therefore, I enclose some of the information you requested in the format you asked for.

Your request for review outlined a dissatisfaction to public interest tests applied in the response that you received. I have further explained my reasons for maintaining the exceptions that still apply, 10(4)(e) and 11(2), and my review of the public interest test, where relevant, for each applied exception below:

The information that was redacted under Regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (Personal Information) 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. These are 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.

As stated in the original response, an exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communication) applies to some of the information requested. The information that remains withheld is information that is internal and has not been shared outside of the Scottish Government. I have reviewed the 'public interest test' and have taken account of all the circumstances of this case, I have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. I agree that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. I recognise that there is public interest in releasing the information as part of an open, transparent and accountable government. However, this is outweighed by the greater public interest in ensuring that sensitive information can be shared with Scottish Ministers, without concern about disclosure, as an essential part of the policy and decision making process.

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 202600517777 - Information released - Documents

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