Dear Colleague
CONSULTATION ON THE TOURISM (SCOTLAND) BILL
We plan to introduce a short Tourism (Scotland) Bill to Parliament next spring, but before we draft it, we want any comments you may have on our proposals, which are set out in the attached consultation paper.
Responding to the consultation paper
We are inviting written responses to the consultation paper by 3 December 2005. We would be grateful if you would use the attached consultation questionnaire provided to tell us which questions or parts of the consultation paper you are responding to, as this will aid our analysis of the responses received.
Please send your response to tourism@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
or
Gaynor Davenport
Scottish Executive
Tourism Policy Unit
Area 1B
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
If you have any queries then please do contact Gaynor on 0131 244 4077.
The consultation paper has been distributed to the consultees listed at Annex A. Please feel free to circulate to a wider audience.
This consultation, and all other Scottish Executive consultation exercises, can be viewed online on the consultation web pages of the Scottish Executive website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations. You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public internet access point is.
The Scottish Executive now has an email alert system for consultations (SEconsult: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/seconsult.aspx). This system allows stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new consultations (including web links). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces SE distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up to date with all SE consultation activity, and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. We would encourage you to register.
Handling your response
We need to know how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to be made public. Please complete and return the Respondent Information Form as this will ensure that we treat your response appropriately. If you ask for your response not to be published we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.
All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Executive 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, these will be made available to the public in the Scottish Executive Library by 31 January 2006. We will check all responses where agreement to publish has been given for any potentially defamatory material before logging them in the library or placing them on the website. You can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the SE Library on 0131 244 4565. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.
What happens next ?
Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence to help us reach a decision on the Tourism (Scotland) Bill. We aim to issue a report on this consultation process in January 2006. It is currently envisaged that the Tourism (Scotland) Bill will be introduced to the Scottish Parliament in March 2006.
Comments and complaints
If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to me at the above address.
Yours sincerely
John A Brown
Head of Tourism and Architectural Policy Division
THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE CONSULTATION PROCESS
Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Executive working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Executive, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general, Scottish Executive consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work.
The Scottish Executive encourages consultation that is thorough, effective and appropriate to the issue under consideration and the nature of the target audience. Consultation exercises take account of a wide range of factors, and no two exercises are likely to be the same.
Typically Scottish Executive consultations involve a written paper inviting answers to specific questions or more general views about the material presented. Written papers are distributed to organisations and individuals with an interest in the issue, and they are also placed on the Scottish Executive web site enabling a wider audience to access the paper and submit their responses. Consultation exercises may also involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as through public meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises. Copies of all the written responses received to a consultation exercise (except those where the individual or organisation requested confidentiality) are placed in the Scottish Executive library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4565).
All Scottish Executive consultation papers and related publications (eg, analysis of response reports) can be accessed at: Scottish Executive consultations
The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process, along with a range of other available information and evidence. 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
Final decisions on the issues under consideration will also take account of a range of other factors, including other available information and research evidence.
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.