Freedom of Information Request - Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland, Project L-AND details
Date: 08 September 2025
Our ref: SIR180978/A5381806
Information Request – Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland, Project L-AND details
Your Request
Please could NatureScot provide copies of reports, correspondence with grantees or other recorded information relating to the goals and status of Project L-AND in the Pentland Hills Regional Park and its use of £100,000 funding from Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland, from December 2023 and August 2025.
Our Response
Following a search of the information we hold our response is attached.
Project L-AND was awarded a £100,00 grant under Round 1 of the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) scheme in October 2023. As per your request, the attached information relates to that grant. Please note, there has been subsequent grants awarded under Round 2 and Round 3 of FIRNS. Please see our FIRNS site for more information.
We have withheld in full some information provided by the project and redacted some information, e.g. costings, under EIRs Regulation 10(5)(e) (Confidentiality of commercial information). There is a strong public interest in openness and transparency, particularly with reference to accountability for spending public money. However, on balance, the commercial success of the project, and the public investment, should not unduly impacted by the release of commercially sensitive information.
We have marked out (redacted) personal data in the documents provided. Releasing personal data into the public domain in response to an access to information request would breach the Data Protection Act 2018. We are therefore withholding the information under EIRs Regulation 11(2) (Personal data). I have also redacted information outwith the scope of your request.
How We Handled Your Request
We believe you have asked for environmental information as defined in the Environmental Information (Scotland Regulations 2004 (‘the EIRs’), so we are dealing with your request under those regulations. To be able to use the EIRs, we must apply an exemption under section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (‘FOISA’). The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance recommends that public authorities apply this exemption to environmental information and handle request under the EIRs.
If you would like to find out more about the access to information legislation, there is a guidance booklet available on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website.
Review and Appeal
I hope this information meets your requirements, but if you are dissatisfied with how we have responded to your information request, please write to us within 40 working days explaining your concerns. You can contact us at Battleby, Redgorton, Perth, PH1 3EW or email us at [email protected]. We will carry out a review of our response and contact you with our findings within 20 working days.
If you are not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner within 6 months. The Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Yours sincerely
FOI Officer,
NatureScot
Document downloads
Due to accessibility issues the attached information, referenced above, is available on request by contacting the FOI team at [email protected]. Please reference the case number (starting with SIR).
