FOI/202500497372 · FOI · partially withheld
LAR Housing Trust loan information: FOI release
Information requested
Information regarding the £55 million loan provided by the Scottish Government to LAR Housing Trust in 2015.
Specifically, you requested:
Any conditions, covenants, or delivery requirements attached to the loan agreement regarding timescales for development or deployment of funds. Any agreed development pipeline, targets, or milestones that LAR Housing Trust committed to as part of the loan arrangement. Any reports or updates provided by LAR Housing Trust to the Scottish Government regarding their delivery progress against any such commitments. Details of any monitoring or oversight arrangements in place to ensure the loan is being used effectively to deliver affordable housing within reasonable timescales.
I understand that some commercial details may be exempt, but I would ask that you provide as much information as possible in the public interest, given that this is public money intended to address housing need.
Response
I enclose a copy of information relevant to your request which includes the loan agreement and the deed of entrustment between LAR Housing Trust and the Scottish Government. I am also enclosing copies of reports from LAR on the progress of the developments and a utilisation request for funding. I have applied exemptions under Section 33(1)(b) - commercial interests to some of the information in the utilisation request and under Section 38(1)(b) – personal data of a third party for the reasons detailed below. Some of the information contained in the utilisation request has been removed under Section 33(1)(b).
An exemption under section Section 33(1)(b) – commercial interests
An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA (commercial interests) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of LAR Housing Trust. Disclosing this information would be likely to give competitors an advantage in future similar tendering exercises which could substantially prejudice LAR Housing Trusts ability to submit competitive tenders and could significantly harm their commercial business.
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. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open and transparent government, and to help account for the expenditure of public money. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies which enter contracts with the Scottish Government, to ensure that we are always able to obtain the best value for public money.
Section 38(1)(b) – personal data of a third party
An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to a small amount of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, ie names and signatures of individuals, 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.
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
I have applied exemptions under Section 33(1)(b) - commercial interests to some of the information in the utilisation request and under Section 38(1)(b) – personal data of a third party for the reasons detailed below. Some of the information contained in the utilisation request has been removed under Section 33(1)(b). An exemption under section Section 33(1)(b) – commercial interests An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA (commercial interests) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of LAR Housing Trust. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’.