RESAS funding information: James Hutton and Rothamsted Institutes: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/18/01942
Date received: 17 July 2018
Date responded: 14 August 2018

Information requested

1. Details of any information held by RESAS regarding funding or support in kind given to the James Hutton Institute or to the Rothamsted Institute from the companies Bayer, BASF, Dow and Syngenta going back to 2007 (for example reports submitted by JHI to RESAS, or projects which RESAS reviewed, or co-funded, or projects for which industry funding to these institutions was a result etc.).

2. Any information held on partnerships or alliances between the James Hutton Institute or Rothamsted Institute/Rothamsted Research and the companies Bayer, BASF, Dow and Syngenta going back to 2007.

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested in your first question.

There are 5 attachments issued for this FOI response. However, these are very large. Should you need to access these documents then please contact the Central Enquiry Unit and we will be supply these. Details of the Central Enquiry Unit are listed below.

In relation to your second question the Scottish Government is aware of alliances or collaborations by JHI (and its predecessor organization) and Rothamsted Institute since 2007. The projects that we are aware of are listed below, together with a link to the publicly available final report where available. We are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under section s.38(1)(b) (personal information) and s.30(c) (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why those exemptions apply are explained below.

Project name	Final report
Genetic Reduction of Energy use and Emissions of Nitrogen through cereal production: GREEN grain	https://cereals.ahdb.org.uk/media/276922/pr468-final-project-report.pdf
Association genetics of UK elite barley (AGOUEB)	https://cereals.ahdb.org.uk/media/337662/pr528-final-project-report.pdf
Testing trophic-functional relationships for modelling farmland diversity and functional dynamics	https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FD007666%2F1
Integrated pest and disease management for high quality raspberry production	https://www.hdc.org.uk/sites/default/files/research_papers/SF 74 final report - unrestricted version._0.pdf
Integrated strategy to prevent mycotoxin risks (INSPYR)	https://cereals.ahdb.org.uk/media/766483/pr549-final-project-report.pdf
Developing biocontrol methods and their integration in sustainable pest and disease management in blackcurrant production	https://horticulture.ahdb.org.uk/project/hl-01105-developing-biocontrol-methods-and-their-integration-sustainable-pest-and-disease
New wheat root ideotypes for improved resource use and efficiency and yield performance in reduced input agriculture	https://cereals.ahdb.org.uk/publications/2017/august/18/new-wheat-root-ideotypes-for-improved-resource-use-and-efficiency-and-yield-performance-in-reduced-input-agriculture.aspx
Project name	Collaboration
The contribution of Phytophthora effectors to host range and non-host resistance	Syngenta
IMPROMALT - Improving winter malting barley quality and developing an understanding of the interactions of introgressions with genetic background	Syngenta
The native seed science, technology and conservation initial training network	Syngenta
BLIGHTSENSE - Development of a rapid biosensor system for in-field detection of potato late blight pathogens	Syngenta
Solutions for improving agroecosystem and crop efficiency for water and nutrient use	Syngenta
Strategies for integrated deployment of host resistance and fungicides to sustain effective crop protection	BASF, Syngenta

Reasons for not providing information

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for in relation to your first question. The detail of the funding/support in kind provided to James Hutton Institute (JHI, and prior to 2011, Scottish Crop Research Institute) and Rothamsted Institute by the companies listed is not held in our records.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and contact details of individuals and CVs of applicants for project funding, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 1998. 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.

An exemption under section 30(c) of FOISA (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) applies to some of the information requested. Disclosing this information would substantially prejudice our ability to conduct joint funding exercises with partners who have provided this information in confidence and would constitute substantial prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs in terms of the exemption.

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 public interest in release because there is a general interest in understanding the ways in which how public and commercial research interact. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in Scottish Government continuing to support and contribute to research programmes which support skills and expertise within Scotland and which are intended to be of direct relevance and benefit to Scotland's economy and environment.

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