EIR/202600517135 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Development and allocation of support schemes within the Rural Support Plan: EIR release
Information requested
It is my understanding that in preparing the Rural Support Plan (“RSP”), the different schemes that form the RSP, along with their tier allocation, were put together and following this the budget was allocated to each tier/scheme.
My request relates to any steps taken in relation to either the preparation of the different schemes and/or the decision to allocate each scheme to its tier within the RSP.
In light of the above, my request for information is as follows. In relation to the preparation of the different schemes in the RSP, and/or the decision to allocate each scheme to its tier within the RSP, and/or any other ‘constituent part’ of the RSP, please provide the following information:
Whether any steps were taken in relation to the duty under section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 and the Fairer Scotland Duty: guidance for public bodies; If so, please confirm what steps were taken, what the outcomes were and the reasons for those outcomes. Please provide copies of any assessments or other documentation relating to those steps and outcomes, including any conclusions drawn regarding the application of the above duty to the Rural Support Plan; Whether any steps were taken in relation to the duty under section 44 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009; If so, please confirm what steps were taken, what the outcomes were and the reasons for those outcomes. Please provide copies of any assessments or other documentation relating to those steps and outcomes, including any conclusions drawn regarding the application of the above duty to the Rural Support Plan.
Response
As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (the “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.
Questions 1 to 4 and their application to 1) the development of the support schemes that comprise the Rural Support Plan and 2) the allocation of the support schemes to Tiers within the Rural Support Plan:
1. Legislative duties, including those identified in Questions 1 and 3, were considered, as appropriate, during the development of each support scheme and were not reassessed for inclusion within the Rural Support Plan.
2. The Rural Support Plan confirms that this initial version reflects what is currently available through legacy CAP, SRDP and other existing support, mapped into the new four-tier framework.
1. At present most support remains legacy CAP under assimilated law which was subject to impact assessments when introduced and approved by the European Commission. 2. The Scottish Government was clear during the passage of the Agriculture (Retained EU Law and Data) (Scotland) Act 2020 and the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 that impact assessments would be undertaken, as appropriate, when changes to legacy CAP support, or any new support, are brought through under secondary legislation. A policy note and the relevant impact assessments accompany each piece of secondary legislation when it is laid.
3. The allocation of the support schemes to Tiers was based on contribution to outcomes and was ultimately subject to a Ministerial decision. The Rural Support Plan and the accompanying document “Support within the Four-Tier framework” describes the four-tier framework and the purpose of each Tier including their primary and secondary outcomes before identifying the schemes that make up each Tier and their individual purpose and contribution to outcomes.
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Detected exemption language
In relation to the preparation of the different schemes in the RSP, and/or the decision to allocate each scheme to its tier within the RSP, and/or any other ‘constituent part’ of the RSP, please provide the following information: Whether any steps were taken in relation to the duty under section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 and the Fairer Scotland Duty: guidance for public bodies; If so, please confirm what steps were taken, what the outcomes were and the reasons for those outcomes. Please provide copies of any assessments or other documentation relating to those steps and outcomes, including any conclusions drawn regarding the application of the above duty to the Rural Support Plan; Whether any steps were taken in relation to the duty under section 44 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009; If so, please confirm what steps were taken, what the outcomes were and the reasons for those outcomes. 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.
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