Regulation 10(4)(d): Material in course of completion

When the environmental information requested is still being completed or is in draft form.

Material in the course of completion#

Regulation 10(4)(d) of the EIR(S) allows an authority to refuse your request if the information relates to material still being completed, unfinished documents, or incomplete data. The authority is saying: this isn’t ready yet.

In plain terms#

The information you’ve asked for is in draft or is still being put together. The authority doesn’t want to release something that’s half-finished because it could be misleading or because the work is ongoing.

You ask a council for the results of a flood risk assessment being carried out on a development site. The council says the assessment is still in progress and the consultants haven’t delivered their final report. The council applies regulation 10(4)(d) and tells you the report should be finished in three months.

The legal detail#

Regulation 10(4)(d) applies to the extent that the request relates to material which is still in the course of completion, to unfinished documents, or to incomplete data. These are three separate categories:

Material in the course of completion - a document or dataset being actively worked on, expected to be finished within a reasonable time
Unfinished documents - distinct from the above; this can include a document on which no further work is planned, even though it was never finalised
Incomplete data - data that has not yet been fully collected or compiled

This is a class exception. The authority does not need to show that releasing the material would cause harm. If the information falls into one of these three categories, the exception applies - but the public interest test still follows.

The public interest test#

Even where material is genuinely incomplete, there can be a strong public interest in releasing what exists so far. If a community faces an environmental risk and needs the best available information now - not in six months - the balance may favour disclosure of draft or partial data.

All EIR(S) exceptions carry a presumption in favour of disclosure, and the authority must interpret this exception restrictively. See What can they refuse? for how the public interest test works under the EIR(S).

How it’s used in practice#

This exception comes up in requests for environmental reports, surveys, monitoring data, and impact assessments - work that often takes months to complete.

The most common mistake authorities make is treating routine monitoring data as “incomplete” simply because monitoring is ongoing. The Scottish Government’s guidance on environmental information is clear: data collected as part of routine monitoring should not be regarded as part of an ongoing unfinished set. Each batch of data should be released as soon as practicable after collection. A council monitoring air quality year-round cannot withhold January’s readings in July on the basis that December’s readings haven’t been collected yet.

If the authority relies on this exception, it must tell you when it expects the material to be finished or completed. This is a specific requirement in regulation 13(d). If the refusal letter doesn’t include an expected completion date, the authority has breached a procedural obligation. The requirement exists so you can come back and ask again once the material is ready.

How to challenge it#

Ask when the material will be complete. If the authority didn’t tell you, point out that regulation 13(d) requires it to do so. If they gave you a date and that date has now passed, the exception can no longer apply - make a new request or ask for a review of the original refusal.

Challenge whether the material is genuinely incomplete. If the authority has finished collecting the data or the report has been delivered but is simply awaiting sign-off, the exception may not hold. A document that is substantively complete but waiting for a senior manager’s approval is arguably no longer “in the course of completion.”

Ask for what exists so far. Even if part of the information is genuinely incomplete, other parts may be finished. The authority should consider releasing the completed portions separately.

See What to do if refused for the full process.

You can also use our interactive challenge tool for this exception to work through these questions step by step and draft a review request.

Good to know: This exception overlaps with regulation 10(4)(e) on internal communications. A draft document circulated internally could fall under either exception. If you’re told the document is a draft, check which exception the refusal cites - the public interest arguments differ. Under FOISA, there is no direct equivalent. Section 27 (information intended for future publication) covers some of the same ground but requires the authority to show the information will be published within 12 weeks.