202300354066 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Correspondence with Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity relating to Deposit Return Scheme: EIR release
Information requested
For the period 1 October 2022 to date, please provide me with:
Copies of all correspondence between the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity (including with her Private Office and officials) and a) businesses and b) trade associations relating to the Deposit Return Scheme. Within GDPR guidelines, this should make clear which organisations are corresponding with the Minister/her office in each instance; All available notes, minutes, or other recorded materials held by the Office of the Minister for Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity relating to engagements between the Minister and businesses or trade associations primarily or solely concerning the Deposit Return Scheme; A full list of engagements between the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity and a) businesses and b) trade associations, primarily or solely concerning the Deposit Return Scheme. For each of these requests, where possible, I would further be grateful if you could provide this information chronologically, from oldest to newest. Please let me know if this request is too wide or unclear and I will look to amend it accordingly.
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
Questions 1
I have included copies of the information you have requested in Annex B.
On reviewing materials within scope of your request, exceptions have been applied in line with the EIRs. The exceptions applied can be found in Annex A.
Question 2
I have included copies of the information you have requested in Annex C.
On reviewing materials within scope of your request, exceptions have been applied in line with the EIRs. The exceptions applied can be found in Annex A.
Question 3
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 website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
The information you have requested in relation to engagements by the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, Lorna Slater, is routinely published on the Scottish Government website and can be found here.
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.
Detected exemption language
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.