South of Scotland Enterprise Act 2019

7 Consultation on action plan

(1) South of Scotland Enterprise must—

(a) consult about its action plan before first making it, and

(b) thereafter, begin to consult about its action plan within 5 years of completing the last consultation under this subsection.

(2) Before carrying out a consultation under subsection (1), South of Scotland Enterprise must prepare, and make publicly available, a document describing its strategy for consulting with—

(a) people who live and work in the South of Scotland, and

(b) businesses and public authorities that operate there.

(3) In carrying out a consultation under subsection (1), South of Scotland Enterprise must—

(a) follow its most recently prepared consultation strategy, and

(b) seek views from—

(i) Dumfries and Galloway Council,

(ii) Scottish Borders Council.

(4) Having completed a consultation under subsection (1), South of Scotland Enterprise must—

(a) prepare a report setting out what (if anything) it intends to do in light of the views elicited through the consultation process, and

(b) send a copy of the report to—

(i) the Scottish Ministers, and

(ii) the local authorities mentioned in subsection (3)(b).

(5) The Scottish Ministers are to lay before the Scottish Parliament a copy of each report received by them under subsection (4).

(6) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations change the date by which the next consultation under subsection (1) must begin to a date later than would otherwise be allowed by paragraph (b) of that subsection if, in the Scottish Ministers’ opinion, it would be expedient to do so in order to synchronise South of Scotland Enterprise’s consultation process with any equivalent consultation process being undertaken by, or on behalf of, Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise.