EIR/202600511683 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Housing development information: EIR release
Information requested
For the period 1 January 2023 to the present, please provide:
1. A list of housing developments of 100 units or more which the Scottish Government has identified as delayed, stalled or not progressing as expected.
2. Copies of any correspondence (including emails, briefing notes or meeting summaries) involving Ministers, Special Advisers or senior officials discussing these developments.
3. Any records discussing political, community or local opposition to these developments, including where this may have affected progress or decision-making.
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 enclose a copy of some of the information you requested.
The list of "...housing developments of 100 units or more which Scottish Government has identified as delayed, stalled or not progressing as expected" you requested has been added to Annex A.
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 an exceptions under regulations Regulation 11 - Personal data, Regulation 10(4)(d) - Material in the course of completion, etc., Regulation 10(5)(e) - Confidentiality of commercial or industrial information, Regulation 10(4)(e) – internal communications of the EIRs applies to that information. The reasons why that exception(s) applies are explained below:
Regulation 11 - Personal data has been applied because some of the documents contain personal data of external individuals and of internal individuals below the level of Senior Civil Servant. Regulation 10(4)(d) - Material in the course of completion, etc has been applied because some information was incomplete or in a draft form. Regulation 10(5)(e) - Confidentiality of commercial or industrial information has been applied because some of the documents contain commercially sensitive information shared with us in confidence by third parties. Regulation 10(4)(e) – internal communications has been applied because some of the information within the documents related to ongoing discussions, highlighting options for future work that is being or was being considered at the time, releasing this information could prejudice future situations.
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.
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. 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 an exceptions under regulations Regulation 11 - Personal data, Regulation 10(4)(d) - Material in the course of completion, etc., Regulation 10(5)(e) - Confidentiality of commercial or industrial information, Regulation 10(4)(e) – internal communications of the EIRs applies to that information.