FOI/202600513762 · FOI · not held
Energy Consents Unit comment submission queries: FOI release
Information requested
The Oban Times recently carried an article concerning the decision by the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) to stop members of the public from submitting comments to it by email about energy-related planning applications.
A spokesperson speaking on behalf of the ECU is quoted in the article as saying, inter alia, "This [i.e. stopping submissions by email] ensures protection against fraud...".
It is quite a serious allegation by Scottish Government officials to suggest that people in Scotland are submitting fraudulent comments to ECU at sufficient scale to warrant this reaction so I would like to ask for 3 (three) pieces of information specifically about the alleged fraudulent submission activity:-
1. The definition used by the staff of ECU to decide which submissions they receive by email are deemed fraudulent.
2. Examples of the sort of evidence that ECU staff would deem to be evidence of fraud.
3. Annual statistics for each year back to 2020 setting out the numbers of fraudulent submissions by email that have been detected.
Response
Firstly, it may be helpful to clarify that the ECU has not alleged that members of the public are submitting fraudulent representations at scale.
The decision to replace emailed submissions with a portal-based process was made to improve:
audit and transparency: structured data capture provides clear audit trails and consistent treatment of representations operational efficiency: standardised submission reduces processing errors and delays security: email verification of portal-based submissions protects against fraud and increases integrity of process GDPR compliance: email-based submission created data protection risks where representations contained sensitive personal data without structured controls for redaction prior to publication
I will now address each part of your request in turn.
1. Before the introduction of the online portal, representations were submitted via email or post requiring a name and full return email or postal address. The ECU had to process each individual representation manually with no verification of sender identity. This created risks to data protection compliance (processing unverified personal information), consultation integrity (potential use of fabricated identities or submission under others' names without consent), and decision-making quality (difficulty distinguishing genuine individual concerns from bulk automated content).
2. Please find enclosed some of the information requested within Annex A.
Please note, some of the information you requested has been withheld as an exemption under section 38(1) (b) (personal data) of FOISA applies to that information, this is because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in Section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
3. 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 section 17(1), Information not held, of FOISA. The Scottish Government does not hold statistics from 2020 onwards, relating to fraudulent submissions received by ECU.
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. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in this information, we cannot provide information which we do not hold.
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
Please note, some of the information you requested has been withheld as an exemption under section 38(1) (b) (personal data) of FOISA applies to that information, this is because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in Section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. Therefore, we are refusing your request under section 17(1), Information not held, of 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.