Proposals for a ban on peat-based compost: EIR release

Information requested

1. Any correspondence between the Scottish and UK Governments, or any notes of meetings between the two, regarding the UK Government's proposals for a ban on peat-based compost (which was announced in 2021).
2. Any information held by the Scottish Government on proposals or plans for a similar ban on peat-based compost in Scotland. By way of background, I note that Defra's consultation document, 'Ending the retail sale of peat in horticulture in England and Wales,' published in December 2021, states that "The Scottish government is committed to taking forward work to develop and consult on a ban on the sale of peat related gardening products, the first step in their commitment to phase out the use of peat in horticulture." I would be grateful if you could provide any information which provides further background to this statement.

If required, the scope of this request can be narrowed to the period from 1 January 2021 to the present date.

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.

Response

In response to (1), I attach a copy of some of the information you requested.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exceptions under Regulations: 11(2) (personal data relating to third party); 10(4)(d) (unfinished documents); 10(5)(g) (protection of the environment to which the information relates); 10(5)(e) (confidential industrial information); and 10(5)(a) (international relations) of the EIRs apply to that information. The reason why these exceptions apply is explained in Annex A.

In response to (2), while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies is explained in Annex B to this letter.

In relation to the quote in (2), in our 2021-22 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government pledged to take forward work to develop and consult on a ban on the sale of peat related gardening products as part of our wider commitment to phase out the use of peat in horticulture. We are working with the horticulture industry to understand the challenges for transition to alternative growing media and we will soon launch a consultation which will inform our direction and speed of travel, setting a date to ban the sale of peat related gardening products that is both realistic and ambitious.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR - 202200279516 - Annex A-B

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3 page PDF

File size

98.2 kB

EIR - 202200279516 - Information release

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24 page PDF

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868.7 kB