FOI/202200272313 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Correspondence regarding the development of the Cambo Oil Field from 2016 to date: EIR release
Information requested
Correspondence between Ministers of the Scottish Government and Members of the UK Parliament from the Scottish National Party and government special advisers regarding the development of the Cambo Oil Field from 2016 to date.
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. I attach a copy of some of the information you requested in the format you have asked for. I attach a copy of the letter from the First Minister to the Prime Minister dated 12 August 2021. This is all the information we hold that falls within the scope of this request. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. Therefore an exception under regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs has been applied. I can confirm that there is no correspondence from government special advisers regarding the development of the Cambo Oil Field from 2016 to date. 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. Therefore an exception under regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs has been applied.