FOI/202400424775 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Cost of buildings under Heat in Buildings Programme: EIR release
Information requested
Clarity on figures provided in a previous EIR release on 29th July (ref 202400421303) and advice provided to Patrick Harvie MSP, Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights on the rules, terms and conditions of the Green Public Sector Estates Decarbonisation Scheme (GPSEDS). You also asked for documentation which specifically advised on the valuation of buildings receiving grant and any local consultation on the works.
Response
I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested in the attached Annex A and Annex B.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. Under the terms the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIR regulations (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. This exception applies to your request for advice to Mr Harvie on consideration of building valuations and the possibility of public consultations in the GPSEDS application process. Public bodies are not required to provide a valuation for the building or demonstrate consultation at a local level. As such, no advice was provided to Mr Harvie regarding the provision of information relating to the value of the building or public consultation in regards to GPSEDs.
Further information on the number of considerations under which GPSEDS applications are assessed is provided in Annex A.
An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some the information requested because it is personal data of officials under senior civil service level 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 exception 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 exception.
In addition, some of the information included within the documentation in Annex B is out of scope of the request and has therefore been redacted. Only information which has been requested has been included in Annex B to ensure ease of accessing the information required by the requester. Information has been redacted as out of scope as it does not constitute “rules, terms and conditions of the Green Public Sector Estates Decarbonisation Scheme (GPSEDS)” and/or does not contain advice to Mr Harvie MSP, Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights.
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Detected exemption language
Under the terms the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIR regulations (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some the information requested because it is personal data of officials under senior civil service level 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.