(1)Subject to section 18, a Scottish public authority which, in relation to a request for information which it holds, to any extent claims that, by virtue of any provision of Part 2, the information is exempt information must, within the time allowed by or by virtue of section 10 for complying with the request, give the applicant a notice in writing (in this Act referred to as a “refusal notice”) which—
(a)discloses that it holds the information;
(b)states that it so claims;
(c)specifies the exemption in question; and
(d)states (if not otherwise apparent) why the exemption applies.
(2)Where the authority’s claim is made only by virtue of a provision of Part 2 which does not confer absolute exemption, the notice must state the authority’s reason for claiming that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs that in disclosure of the information.
(3)The authority is not obliged to make a statement under subsection (1)(d) in so far as the statement would disclose information which would itself be exempt information.
(4)A Scottish public authority which, in relation to a request for information, claims that section 12(1) applies must, within the time allowed by or by virtue of section 10 for complying with the request, give the applicant a notice which states that it so claims.
(5)A Scottish public authority which, in relation to such a request, claims that section 14 applies must, within that time, give the applicant a notice which states that it so claims; except that the notice need not be given if—
(a)the authority has, in relation to a previous identical or substantially similar such request, given the applicant a notice under this subsection; and
(b)it would in all the circumstances be unreasonable to expect it to serve a further such notice in relation to the current request.
(6)Subsections (1), (4) and (5) are subject to section 19.