Belief bodies prescribed under Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977: FOI release

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


FOI reference: FOI/18/00210
Date received: 24 January 2018
Date responded: 20 February 2018

Information requested

Information relating to requests from belief bodies to become prescribed under the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977, as amended by the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014. Specifically you asked for all correspondence between belief bodies and civil servants relating to requests to become prescribed as above. You said you were interested in information dated after 14 February 2017 up to the date of your request on 24 January 2018.

Response

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. The information relates to correspondence the Scottish Government has had with:

  • Independent Humanist Ceremonies (pages 1 to 3 refer)

  • Caledonian Humanist Association (pages 4 to 13 refer)

  • Humanism in Scotland (pages 14 to 31 refer)

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why that exemption applies are explained in the Annex to this letter.

In some instances, we have redacted information in the correspondence which falls outwith the scope of your request under FOISA.

Reasons for not providing information

An exemption under section 38(1)(b) (third party data) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This exemption relates to personal data. We have withheld the names and other personal details of the correspondents who wrote into the Scottish Government while providing information on the bodies they are representing. We have also withheld the name of a Scottish Government employee.

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

FOI-18-00210 documents released email correspondence.pdf

Contact

Please quote the FOI reference

Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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