202300364864 · FOI/EIR · withheld
Communications on the future of Circularity Scotland from May 1st 2023 onwards: EIR release
Information requested
Please provide all communications to and from Circularity Scotland, from May 1st 2023 onwards, on the future of Circularity Scotland. Please provide all minutes of meetings with Circularity Scotland, from May 1st 2023 onwards, on the future of Circularity Scotland.
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
Question 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
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because an exception under Regulation 10(4)(e) (Internal communications) and Regulation 10(5)(f) (third party interests) of the EIRs applies to that information. The reason why the exception applies can be found in Annex A.
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. Question 2 While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because an exception under Regulation 10(4)(e) (Internal communications) and Regulation 10(5)(f) (third party interests) of the EIRs applies to that information.