Freedom of Information coverage extension: consultation

Responding to this consultation

45. We are inviting responses to this consultation by Tuesday 3 December 2019.

46. Please respond to this consultation using the online platform Citizen Space which can be found at: https://consult.gov.scot

47. You can save and return to your responses whilst the consultation is still open. Please ensure that consultation responses are submitted before the closing date.

48. If you are unable to respond using Citizen Space, please send your views and comments:

(a) by email to foi@gov.scot; or

(b) by post to FOI Unit, Scottish Government, 2W, St Andrew's House, Edinburgh EH1 3DG

49. However you respond, please complete the Respondent Information Form (see 'Handling your response' below). Responses should reach us by Friday 22 November 2019 but earlier responses would be welcome.

Handling your response

50. If you respond using Citizen Space, you will be automatically directed to the Respondent Information Form at the start of the questionnaire. This will let us know how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to be made public.

51. If you are unable to respond via Citizen Space, please complete and return the Respondent Information Form attached to the end of this document. This will ensure that we treat your response appropriately. All respondents need to 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 2002 Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

52. If you ask for your response not to be published, we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly. If the response comes from an organisation, we will indicate that the organisation has responded to the consultation.

What happens next

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

54. 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.

55. This consultation seeks to establish the potential range of persons who may be identified as providing services on behalf of a Scottish public authority and to inform how the Ministers might prioritise designating them.

56. Once that exercise is complete we anticipate that further, targeted consultation will follow once candidates for inclusion in a particular order are identified, in order to discharge the Scottish Ministers' statutory duty to consult every person to whom the section 5 order relates or persons appearing to the Ministers to represent the affected persons[7].