Hundreds of protected areas are under pressure from Scotland’s massive deer herd. Most agree deer numbers must be controlled to protect the environment, but are split on what should be done.
Edinburgh University students were “interrogated” by police at their desks over posters featuring Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, prompting dozens to complain.
Unsafe levels of faecal bacteria were recorded at dozens of Scotland’s best beaches this summer. Swimmers and paddlers could be at risk, but officials insist water quality remains high.
Information kept secret for years on radioactive problems at the Clyde nuclear bomb bases is to be released to the public, after Scotland’s freedom of information watchdog said it threatens “reputations” not national security.
The Scottish Information Commissioner, David Hamilton, has ordered the government’s Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) to release files it has been withholding about “poor maintenance” and radioactive waste since 2016 at the Faslane and Coulport naval bases near Helensburgh.
His decision is the result of a six-year freedom of information (FoI) battle by The Ferret, involving four FoI requests, opposition from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and two formal appeals. Sepa has until 28 July 2025 to comply, or appeal.
Hamilton ruled that Sepa had breached FoI law by wrongly claiming that releasing the files would endanger defence, national security or public safety.
He also dismissed Sepa’s argument that disclosure would prejudice criminal or disciplinary action, pointing out there was “no possibility” of such action because the MoD was exempt from environmental rules.
Campaigners welcomed the ruling, with one former Sepa chief executive accusing Sepa and the MoD of “covering up their failures”. Governments were “dishonest” about the real risks of nuclear weapons, others claimed.
Sepa said it “respects” Hamilton’s rulings, and was committed to upholding its FoI responsibilities. The MoD said that the events reported by Sepa had “no impact on the environment”, and insisted it had “a strong and transparent safety culture”.
In the past Sepa has released extensive details of radioactive blunders at Faslane and Coulport in response to FoI requests. In 2009 the Guardian reported that there had been leaks of radioactive coolant into the Firth of Clyde from nuclear submarines in 2004, 2007 and 2008.
But in recent years the MoD has clamped down on releasing information about the UK nuclear weapons programme, citing national security. The Ferret reported in 2017 that the MoD had censored its annual nuclear safety assessments.
In 2019 The Ferret made an FoI request to Sepa for information on “any environmental issues with radioactivity” at Faslane and Coulport since 2016. But this request, along with almost a thousand others, was abandoned by Sepa following a criminal cyber attack in 2020.
We resubmitted our request in 2023. Sepa released a few files covering 2016-19, but withheld others because of “national security concerns” or because they could prejudice Sepa’s ability to conduct “inquiries of a criminal or disciplinary nature”.
We submitted another FoI request to Sepa in 2024 asking for updated information on radioactive issues at the nuclear bases since 2019. Sepa again withheld four files on the grounds that they could jeopardise public safety.
The Ferret made a fourth FoI request in August 2024 for all the correspondence between Sepa and the MoD about our previous three requests. This showed that the MoD had blocked Sepa from releasing information.
We then lodged two appeals with the Scottish Information Commissioner, David Hamilton. One asked him to investigate Sepa’s refusal to release information on radioactive issues at the nuclear bases from 2016 to 2019, and the other from 2019 to 2024.
Hamilton has now published his decisions on both appeals. He concluded that Sepa should not have kept the majority of the information secret, rejecting its arguments that releasing the files could “prejudice substantially” defence, national security or public safety.
“The commissioner does not accept that making the majority of the information available would, or would be likely to, lead to the kind of prejudice argued by the authority,” said reports from his office.
“The commissioner is of this view as he is not convinced that disclosure of this information is a threat to anything other than reputations.”
The report covering 2019-2024 noted that “much of this information discloses issues which occurred as a result of poor maintenance, certain of which he considers to be generic in nature.” Hamilton could see “no harm in its disclosure”.
The report covering 2016-2019 said that much of the information “discloses routine inspections and actions recommended to rectify any issues identified, and amendments to procedures to improve the handling and disposal of waste”.
Hamilton pointed out that, although the MoD had promised to act as if it were covered by environmental rules, it was legally exempt. That meant there was “no possibility of any criminal or disciplinary proceedings” being pursued by Sepa.
He criticised Sepa for failing to disclose that it had an MoD document marked “official sensitive”. He also found Sepa in breach of the law for failing to identify all the information covered by one FoI request.
In both decisions, however, Hamilton accepted that a limited amount of information should remain confidential. This included “building names and specific locations”, “timeframes for improvement works” and “particular working practices”.
There was no public interest in disclosing information which could be “used by those with malicious intent to cause harm or disruption”, he said, particularly when the national threat level was said to be “substantial”.
Hamilton ordered Sepa to release the majority of the information it had kept secret, and to review the withholding of other information by 28 July. Sepa has a right to appeal to the Court of Session on a point of law within 42 days.
Professor Campbell Gemmell was Sepa’s chief executive between 2003 and 2012 when it released more than 400 pages about environmental safety at Faslane and Coulport. “It’s good to see this result albeit after a long wrangle,” he told The Ferret.
“But it’s rather ridiculous that the information commissioner had to be involved in securing the release of what Sepa should have released anyway. Hiding behind FoI restrictions and exemptions as well as spurious MoD and national security claims is disappointing and frankly disingenuous bureaucratic nonsense.”
Gemmell added: “Protecting the environment and the public as well as seeking to inform and engage should be more important than protecting reputations.
“Repeated failures of control and environment protection at the nuclear bases over many years suggest that preventing such failures still needs to be much more of a priority for the MoD, and for Sepa, than covering up their failures.”
The Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament accused Sepa of “complicity in a public-relations culture of secrecy” about nuclear weapons. “Sepa should enable public awareness of serious accidents at nuclear bases, along with the small, and not-so-small, accidental and routine radioactive discharges,” said the campaign’s chair, Lynn Jamieson.
“Sadly this is typical of government dishonesty about the real risks of nuclear weapons and nuclear power – adding risks of catastrophic accidents and radiation to our environment, putting a target on our backs and leaving a legacy of harm for future generations.”
According to the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland, Sepa had shown a “dismal failure” to understand the basics of Scotland’s 20-year-old FoI law. “Disclosing information on the environmental impacts of radioactivity at Faslane is a win for all of us,” said the campaign’s director, Carole Ewart.
Paul Dobson
Sepa said it was “firmly committed” to upholding its FoI responsibilities and would take “every opportunity to embed learning and best practice”. It had made “significant improvements” in the last two years.
“Sepa respects the decision by the Scottish Information Commissioner on Sepa’s handling of these two related information requests,” said the agency’s head of governance, Kieron Gallagher.
An MoD spokesperson said: “We take our responsibilities for the safety and security of radioactive materials very seriously and have robust arrangements for compliance with environmental legislation under clear agreements with Sepa.
“The events at His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde and Coulport previously reported by Sepa had no impact on the environment and demonstrate we have a strong and transparent safety culture that learns from experience and takes action to prevent recurrence.”
Hundreds of protected areas are under pressure from Scotland’s massive deer herd. Most agree deer numbers must be controlled to protect the environment, but are split on what should be done.
Edinburgh University students were “interrogated” by police at their desks over posters featuring Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, prompting dozens to complain.
Unsafe levels of faecal bacteria were recorded at dozens of Scotland’s best beaches this summer. Swimmers and paddlers could be at risk, but officials insist water quality remains high.
Footage of farmed trout suffocating, haemorrhaging, and being beaten with batons in a slaughterhouse has prompted an official complaint to a government regulator.
