“The Scottish Commissioner has been contacted by the Ministry of Defence in relation to two recent decisions which required the disclosure of information held by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
Under the terms of the Commissioner’s decisions, SEPA was due to comply with these decision notices by Monday 28 July.
The Ministry of Defence has notified the Commissioner that it has not, to date, had the time to review all the relevant information and that there may (or may not) be additional national security considerations which may (or may not) be required to be taken into account.
As a result, and in light of the potential national security matters raised by the Ministry of Defence, the Commissioner will allow the time for this consideration and taken the decision to allow until 4 August 2025 before seeking to enforce these decisions. This unusual step is being taken in order to enable the Ministry of Defence to review the information and provide any appropriate comment.
It is important to note that the Ministry of Defence have not, at present, sought to challenge the content of the Commissioner’s decision notices. Whether the decisions should be challenged remains a matter for SEPA.”
