RESPONSES ON TOPIC 6 - FOI(S)A SECTION 31 GUIDANCE (Questions 26-27)
11.1 There were few responses on this topic with many respondees indicating that this was not an issue which they saw as of much relevance to them. Across the few responses there was a fairly even balance between those who found the section 31 guidance note helpful and those who made suggestions for improvement or clarification.
11.2 In the main, where respondees commented on the issue, most thought it preferable that there should be a stated period for a ministerial certificate under section 31 to be in place, while allowing that, at the end point, it would be possible to renew the certificate if required. There was limited comment on the appropriate length of time for certificates to be in place, other than "the minimum necessary", or perhaps indicating that it might need to be certificate specific.
11.4 The point was made that an agreed "end " point for section 31 certificates should be irrelevant as even with the certificate in existence, Scottish public authorities are still required to consider each request at the time of the request. They may at each point choose whether or not to apply section 31 and deploy the certificate. However it was also acknowledged that "The perceived risk with the current use of certificates is that the balance is weighed too heavily from the outset towards non-disclosure. This led to the view that "a timescale for certificates may serve as a QA check."