FOI/202400435543 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Project Willow information: EIR release
Information requested
1. What are the terms of reference EY is working to as part of its role in Project Willow? This is a request for a copy of the terms of reference document. 2. What correspondence has there been between the UK government and PetroIneos/Ineos with regards to Project Willow. This is a request for copies of this correspondence. 3. What entity procured EY’s services for Project Willow. 4. To which entity is government funding for Project Willow delivered? 5. To whom is EY accountable for its work on Project Willow on a day to day basis? i.e. what is the line of reporting? 6. Who wrote the terms of reference for Project Willow? 7. What procurement process led to EY being contracted to do this work?
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.
While it is our aim to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some the information you have requested because exceptions under regulation 10(5)(e) (substantial prejudice to confidentiality of commercial or industrial information) and regulation 10(4)(a) (information not held) of the EIRs applies to that information. The reasons why these exceptions apply are explained in the Annex to this letter.
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 it is our aim to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some the information you have requested because exceptions under regulation 10(5)(e) (substantial prejudice to confidentiality of commercial or industrial information) and regulation 10(4)(a) (information not held) of the EIRs applies to that information.