FOI/202300369646 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Correspondence between Ministers and Just Transition on the topic of CCS/CCUS since March 2023: EIR release
Information requested
Any correspondence between the current Minister for Energy and the Cabinet Secretary of Net Zero and Just Transition on the topic of CCS/CCUS from 1/3/2023 – Present.
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.
Response to your request
I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested. As your request referred to the current ‘Minister for Energy’ and ‘Cabinet Secretary of Net Zero and Just Transition’, and as both took office in these roles on 29 March 2023, the scope of your request has been narrowed to be “29 March 2023 – present” (‘present’ being interpreted as 3 August 2023 which is the day after your request). Additionally, on 13 June 2023, the Ministerial titles were changed, so we have widened the scope of your request to include the ‘Minister for Energy and the Environment’ and the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition’.
An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party 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.
An exception under regulation 10(4)(d) of the EIRs (unfinished or incomplete information) applies to some of the information you have requested because it is an unfinished document. This document is a draft, however the finished document was also found in our searches and this information is being released to you.
This exception 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 exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. We recognise that there is some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and the completed version is being released to you as part of this request. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that unfinished or information which is still in being worked on is not disclosed when it might give a misleading impression of the Government’s view or position on the matter to which the information relates.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://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. An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party 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.