A consultation on the Draft Scottish Fiscal Commission (Modification of Functions) Regulations 2016

Chapter 5: How To Respond

Responding to this Consultation

This consultation is your opportunity to comment on the regulations that will update the SFC's functions to accommodate the new fiscal powers devolved to Scotland.

We are inviting responses to this consultation by Friday 30 November 2016.

Please respond to this consultation using the Scottish Government's consultation platform, Citizen Space. You can view and respond to this consultation online at https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/fiscal-responsibility/modification-of-functions-regulations-2016.

You can save and return to your responses while the consultation is still open. Please ensure that consultation responses are submitted before the closing date of Friday 30 November 2016.

If you are unable to respond online, please send your hard copy response (along with a completed Respondent Information Form - see "Handling your Response" below) to:

David Kerrouchi
Fiscal Responsibility Division
Scottish Government
Area 3D-North
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ

Handling your response

If you respond using Citizen Space, you will be directed to the Respondent Information Form. Please indicate how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to published.

If you are unable to respond via Citizen Space, please complete and return the Respondent Information Form included in this document. If you ask for your response not to be published we will regard it as confidential and will treat it accordingly.

We would be grateful if you would use the consultation questionnaire provided or would clearly indicate in your response which questions or parts of the consultation paper you are responding to, as this will aid our analysis of the responses received.

All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Government is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

Next steps in the process

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public, and after we have checked that they contain no potentially defamatory material, responses will be made available to the public at http://consult.scotland.gov.uk. If you use Citizen Space to respond, you will receive a copy of your response via email.

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence to help us. Responses will be published where we have been given permission to do so.

The Scottish Government intends to lay legislation in January 2017, updating the SFC's functions, to take effect from the 1 April 2017 - at the same time as it becomes a statutory body and new powers come into force. Your response will help inform that process.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to:

David Kerrouchi
Fiscal Responsibility Division
Scottish Government
Area 3D-North
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ

Scottish Government consultation process

Consultation is an essential part the policymaking process. It gives us the opportunity to consider your opinion and expertise on a proposed area of work.

You can find all our consultations online: http://consult.scotland.gov.uk. Each consultation details the issues under consideration, as well as a way for you to give us your views, either online, by email or by post.

Consultations may involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as public meetings, focus groups or other online methods such as Dialogue ( http://ideas.scotland.gov.uk).

Responses will be analysed and used as part of the decision making process, along with a range of other available information and evidence. We will publish a report of this analysis for every consultation. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:

• indicate the need for policy development or review;

• inform the development of a particular policy;

• help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals;

• be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented.

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body.

Scottish Government consultations

The Scottish Government has an e-mail alert system for consultations. This system, called SEconsult, allows individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email with details of all new consultations (including web links). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces, Scottish Government distribution lists. It is designed to allow people with an interest to keep up to date with all Scottish Government consultation activity. You can register at SEconsult at: http://www.gov.scot/consultations/seconsult.aspx

A consultation on the Scottish Fiscal Commission (Modification of Functions) Regulations 2016

RESPONDENT INFORMATION FORM

The respondent information form and consultation questionnaire are available in Word format (2.5MB)