FOI/202600524940 · FOI/EIR · cost limit
Woodland creation schemes approved by Scottish Forestry: EIR release
Information requested
For all woodland creation schemes approved by Scottish Forestry between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2025, please provide a dataset (for example in spreadsheet or CSV format) showing, for each scheme: The date the application was first received by Scottish Forestry The date the scheme was approved The total area of the scheme in hectares The Scottish Forestry Conservancy / region in which the scheme is located Whether the scheme was approved under the Forestry Grant Scheme woodland creation option (yes/no) Using the same dataset, please also provide, for each approval year from 2016 to 2025: The number of woodland creation schemes approved that year The average, median, shortest and longest time (in days) between the date the application was first received and the date of approval The total area (hectares) of woodland creation schemes approved that year The average and median scheme size (hectares) approved that year If readily available from existing management information, please also provide, for the period 2016–2025: Any breakdown Scottish Forestry holds of average or median application-to-approval times by scheme size band (for example: under 10 ha, 10–50 ha, 50–100 ha, over 100 ha) and approval year. In addition, for woodland creation applications that were under consideration (i.e. not yet determined) as at 31 December 2025, please provide a dataset (for example in spreadsheet or CSV format) showing, for each application: The date the application was first received by Scottish Forestry The date the application was validated (if different and recorded) The current status of the application (for example: in assessment, further information requested, on hold, appealed) The total area of the proposed scheme in hectares The Scottish Forestry Conservancy / region in which the scheme is located Whether the application relates to the Forestry Grant Scheme woodland creation option (yes/no) Using the same dataset, please also provide any management information you hold which summarises, for woodland creation applications under consideration as at 31 December 2025: The number of such applications by year of first recei The average and median time (in days) between the date the application was first received and 31 December 2025, broken down by year of first receipt Any breakdown of average or median elapsed time (from first receipt to 31 December 2025) by scheme size band (for example: under 10 ha, 10–50 ha, 50–100 ha, over 100 ha)
If you consider that responding to all parts of this request would be overly burdensome, please prioritise providing the case-level datasets described above and indicate what additional summary information could be provided within the appropriate cost limit.
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.
We have responded to your request as we have numbered in the above.
Response to your request
For part 1:
Please find attached the information we hold in relation to your request.
This is an Excel file named “2026 07 02 EIR 202600524940 – Woodland Creation Datasets”
For part 2:
The date range 1 January to 31 December is not the standard reporting period for the Forestry Grant Scheme and no statistical analysis has been undertaken for the period requested.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Scottish Forestry does not have the information you have requested. Therefore, we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies are explained below/in the Annex to this letter.
Under regulation 9 of the EIRs (our duty to provide advice and assistance) we would like to provide further information which may be of interest:
Although no statistical analysis has been undertaken for the period requested, the data provided for part 1 of the request will allow you to perform this analysis.
For part 3:
The date range 1 January to 31 December is not the standard reporting period for the Forestry Grant Scheme and no statistical analysis has been undertaken for the period requested.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Scottish Forestry does not have the information you have requested. Therefore, we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies are explained below/in the Annex to this letter.
Under regulation 9 of the EIRs (our duty to provide advice and assistance) we would like to provide further information which may be of interest:
Although no statistical analysis has been undertaken for the period requested, the data provided for part 1 of the request will allow you to perform this analysis.
For part 4:
Please find attached the information we hold in relation to your request.
This is a CSV file named “Under Assessment 31-12-25”.
Notes:
The date an incomplete application to the Forestry Grant Scheme is received, is not recorded. We do not validate applications. The “Application Submitted Date” is the date Scottish Forestry accepts a complete, or largely complete application to the Forestry Grant Scheme.
For part 5:
No statistical analysis is available for the bespoke date ranges and dataset requested.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Scottish Forestry does not have the information you have requested. Therefore, we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies are explained below/in the Annex to this letter.
Under regulation 9 of the EIRs (our duty to provide advice and assistance) we would like to provide further information which may be of interest:
Although no statistical analysis has been undertaken for the period requested, the data provided for part 4 of the request will allow you to perform this analysis.
Additional Information: Forestry Grant Scheme Statistics are published each month on the Scottish Forestry website: Publications | Scottish Forestry use “Sort by” “Created DESC” to bring the latest version to the top of the list.
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. Therefore, we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs.