Publication - FOI/EIR release

Applications for the use of sensitive words: FOI release

Published: 18 April 2018
Directorate: Constitution Directorate
Topic: Constitution and democracy, Public sector

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

FOI reference: FOI/18/00836
Date received: 18 March 2018
Date responded: 17 April 2018

Information requested

1. The number of applications received by your organisation to use sensitive words in calendar year 2017;

2. The number of applications received by your organisation to use sensitive words in calendar year 2017 that were subsequently approved;

3. The names of each of the proposed businesses that applied to your organisation to use sensitive words in calendar year 2017;

4. The names of each of the proposed businesses that applied to your organisation to use sensitive words in calendar year 2017 that were subsequently approved;

5. All correspondence relating to the applications received by your organisation to use sensitive words in calendar year 2017 that were not approved.

Response

A total of 89 applications were received by the Scottish Government to use sensitive words in their proposed company names in the calendar year 2017. Sixty-two of the applications were approved, six were declined and 21 were either not for the Scottish Government to process or the correspondents did not respond to our requests for further information to allow us to proceed with their application.

I attach a table with the names of the proposed businesses that applied to the Scottish Government and the names of the proposed businesses subsequently approved.

I also attach copies of the correspondence relating to applications the Scottish Government received to use sensitive words in their company names but were not approved. You will see that personal data has been redacted. This is because an exemption under section 38 (1) of FOISA (personal information) applies. Disclosing personal information would contravene data protection principles in schedule 1 to 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.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses