Candidate nomination integrity at Scottish local government elections information: FOI release

Information requested

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 regarding the integrity of the candidate nomination process at Scottish local government elections, specifically in relation to what are commonly described as ""paper candidates,"" and any assessment of or proposals to address the existing loophole in nomination requirements.

Please provide the following information:

Any internal assessments, briefings, reports, or correspondence produced since 1 January 2023 regarding the adequacy of identity verification requirements for candidates standing at Scottish local government elections.

Any correspondence between the Scottish Government and the Electoral Management Board for Scotland regarding candidate nomination integrity, paper candidates, or unverifiable nominations at local government elections.

Any assessments or correspondence regarding whether the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 addresses, or was considered in relation to, the absence of candidate identity verification requirements at Scottish local government elections.

Any internal assessments or correspondence regarding the six month non-attendance rule under Section 85 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, specifically in relation to whether that rule is adequate where a councillor fails to take up or perform the duties of their office following election.

Any proposals, consultation responses, or policy papers produced since 1 January 2023 regarding reform of the nomination or non-attendance rules as they apply to Scottish local government elections.

If any information is withheld under an exemption, please specify the exemption applied and whether the public interest test has been considered.

Response

Some of the materials within scope are from larger documents. Only some of the material was in scope of your request therefore, extracts have been taken from those in scope.

Relevant materials that are in scope of your request can be found in Annex A of this document.

Exemptions under S.29 (1) (a) and S.38(1)(b) apply to some of the information located in Annex A. The reason why these exemptions apply is explained in Annex B of this document.

Advice and Assistance

While your request focused on candidate identification, I thought that the following information from the Scottish Parliament’s official report on the subject of candidate eligibility (i.e. whether a person is legally entitled to stand) might be of interest:

Committee discussion with academic (see column 28): Official Report
Committee discussion with EMB (see column 4 and 5) Official Report

About FOI

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

FOI 202600516377 - Information released - Annex

File type

PDF

File size

196.7 kB