The Scottish Government

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section 7: how to respond

Responding to this consultation paper

We are inviting written responses to this consultation paper by Friday 19 September 2008.

Please post your response to:

Please remember to include the Respondent Information Form ( see annex a). You can cut out the Respondent Information Form along the scissor lines provided or print off a copy from the Scottish Government website at www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations(look for the consultation title among the list of 'current' consultations).

Or

E-mail your response to schoolclosure.consultation@scotland.gsi.gov.uk. If emailing, please also include the Respondent Information Form, which can be accessed on-line at www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations(look for the consultation title among the list of 'current' consultations. The Respondent Information Form to be used for e-mail responses is located at the top of the contents page).

Or

Fill in an on-line response form on the Scottish Government website at www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations(look for the consultation title among the list of 'current' consultations. The on-line form is located at the top of the contents page).

We would be grateful if you could clearly indicate in your response which questions or parts of the consultation paper you are responding to as this will aid analysis of the responses received. If you have any queries contact the Scottish Government on 0131 244 0166.

This consultation, and all other Scottish Government consultation exercises, can be viewed on-line on the consultation web pages of the Scottish Government 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 Government 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). SG consult complements, but in no way replaces SG distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up to date with all SG 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. As mentioned above, please complete and return the Respondent Information Form ( see annex a) with your response 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 Government are 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 (see the attached Respondent Information Form - annex a), these will be made available to the public in the Scottish Government Library by 17 October 2008 and on the Scottish Government consultation web pages by 24 October 2008. 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 Scottish Government Library on 0131 244 4552. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.

What happens next?

Following the close of the consultation we will examine all the views submitted carefully. We will then produce a report on the views expressed in the consultation, our responses to them, and any changes to our proposals following the consultation. Subject to the above, the Scottish Government intends to introduce a Bill at the earliest suitable legislative opportunity.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to:

Or e-mail them, marked for Lynn Henni's attention, to:
schoolclosure.consultation@scotland.gsi.gov.uk .

Alternative copies

Further copies of this document are available, on request, in audio and large print formats and in community languages; please contact:

t. 0131 244 0166
e. schoolclosure.consultation@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

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