UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021

40 Confidentiality of proceedings

(1) Environmental Standards Scotland must not disclose—

(a) information obtained under section 23(1) or 24(1), or

(b) correspondence between Environmental Standards Scotland and a public authority that—

(i) relates to a particular information notice or compliance notice, or to the preparation of a particular improvement report,

(ii) is, or contains, such a notice or an unpublished draft of such a report.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to—

(a) a disclosure (other than a disclosure of an information notice, a compliance notice or an unpublished draft of an improvement report) made with the consent of the public authority who provided the information or correspondence,

(b) a disclosure made for purposes connected with the exercise of Environmental Standards Scotland’s functions,

(c) a disclosure made to the Office for Environmental Protection, or any other environmental governance body, for purposes connected with the exercise of an environmental governance function,

(d) a disclosure of information, or correspondence, that relates only to a matter in relation to which Environmental Standards Scotland does not intend to take any further action under this Chapter,

(e) a disclosure made for the purposes of civil proceedings,

(f) a disclosure made for the purposes of the investigation or prosecution of any offence or suspected offence or for the purposes of the prevention or detection of crime,

(g) a disclosure made in pursuance of an order of a court or tribunal,

(h) a disclosure made in accordance with any other enactment requiring or permitting the disclosure.