The Electronic Communications (Scotland) Order 2006

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order makes provision to enable electronic communications in a number of enactments.

It amends the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 to enable electronic communications to be used where there is a requirement in that Act to use writing, under the conditions in section 19B of that Act to be inserted by article 2.

It amends the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 to enable certain things to be done electronically (article 3).

It inserts a new section into the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 to provide that: school placing requests made by parents; decisions and notifications made or issued by an education authority or by the education appeal committee; and representations made by a parent to an education appeal committee, in relation to placing requests, may be made or issued by means of electronic communications (article 4). Education authorities may refuse to accept placing requests submitted electronically until they have passed and published a resolution to accept them.

It amends regulation 6(11) of the Education (Student Loans) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 to remove a requirement for a declaration made by a student applying to borrow additional amounts to be signed, to facilitate the entire loan application process being available by electronic means (article 5).

It amends section 1(2) (fluoridation of water supplies at request of health authorities) of the Water (Fluoridation) Act 1985 to allow a health authority to write electronically to a statutory undertaker as an alternative to a paper based process (article 6).

It amends section 10(1) of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 to provide that anything required to be done in writing under that Act may be done by electronic communications (article 7).

It amends the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 at section 24, to provide that the giving of notice in writing under section 24(1) and (3) may be by means of a document containing text that is received in a legible form, capable of being used for subsequent reference and sent by an electronic communication (article 8).