Scottish Independence Referendum Question Re-tested

The request was successful.

Dear Electoral Commission,

It was reported on 09/02/2020 in The National newspaper that the Scottish Government had made a submission to the Electoral Commission (EC) regarding re-testing the question for a second Scottish independence referendum with a response expected from the EC in about three months.

See here: https://www.thenational.scot/news/182217...

I am unable to find any reference to this on your website.

1. Please can you confirm that around February 2020, the Scottish Government asked the Electoral Commission to re-test the question.

2. Please supply the information as to what the EC has done to re-test the question.

3. Please supply the feedback / assessment of the re-testing of the question.

4. Please can you explain why no update has been published on your website till date?

Yours faithfully,

COLIN WHITE

FOI, Electoral Commission

Dear Colin White,

 

Our Ref: FOI 119-20

 

Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act dated 1
October 2020. You wrote:

 

It was reported on 09/02/2020 in The National newspaper that the Scottish
Government had made a submission to the Electoral Commission (EC)
regarding re-testing the question for a second Scottish independence
referendum with a response expected from the EC in about three months.

 

See here: 
[1]https://www.thenational.scot/news/182217...

 

I am unable to find any reference to this on your website.

 

1.  Please can you confirm that around February 2020, the Scottish
Government asked the Electoral Commission to re-test the question.

 

2. Please supply the information as to what the EC has done to re-test the
question.

 

3.  Please supply the feedback / assessment of the re-testing of the
question.

 

4. Please can you explain why no update has been published on your website
till date?

 

 

The Commission aims to respond to requests for information promptly and
within the statutory timeframe of twenty working days.

 

You may expect to receive a reply sent from the Commission by 29 October
2020.

 

Please note that due to the current situation with the Covid-19 virus our
offices are not accessible and we will not be able to respond to Freedom
of Information requests or release documents in hardcopy. We have taken
this decision to protect our staff and requestors in line with guidance
from the Information Commissioner’s office, as stated on our website
([2]https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/f...).

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Information Officer

[3][Electoral Commission request email]

 

The Electoral Commission

[4]electoralcommission.org.uk

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.thenational.scot/news/182217...
2. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/f...
3. mailto:[Electoral Commission request email]
4. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/

FOI, Electoral Commission

Dear Colin White

 

 

Our Ref: FOI-119-20

 

Thank you for your email to the Electoral Commission dated 01/10/2020.

 

The Commission aims to respond to requests for information promptly and
has done so within the statutory timeframe of twenty working days.

 

Your request is below followed by our response.

 

It was reported on 09/02/2020 in The National newspaper that the Scottish
Government had made a submission to the Electoral Commission (EC)
regarding re-testing the question for a second Scottish independence
referendum with a response expected from the EC in about three months. 
See here: 
[1]www.thenational.scot/news/18221767.electoral-commission-retest-indyref-ballot-question. 
I am unable to find any reference to this on your website.

 

1.  Please can you confirm that around February 2020, the Scottish
Government asked the Electoral Commission to re-test the question.

2. Please supply the information as to what the EC has done to re-test the
question.

3.  Please supply the feedback / assessment of the re-testing of the
question.

4. Please can you explain why no update has been published on your website
till date?

 

 

Our response is as follows:

 

We hold some of the information you have requested.

 

As you are aware, on 31 January 2020 Nicola Sturgeon gave a speech in
which she said that she would ask the Electoral Commission to ‘re-test the
question ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’. Further details of
that speech are available at:
[2]www.snp.org/nicola-sturgeons-statement-on-scotlands-future

 

I can confirm that the Electoral Commission received a formal request from
the Scottish Government to re-test the question on 5 February 2020. This
request was made by Michael Russell MSP, then Cabinet Secretary for
Government Business and Constitutional Relations (now Cabinet
Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs).

 

The Commission’s Board considered the request for advice and assistance at
its meeting of 18 March 2020. It was noted at that meeting that were the
Commission to agree to act on the request, the work could not presently
commence as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic as focus groups with
voters could not be safely undertaken.

 

In March 2020 the Scottish Government indicated that it had paused work on
preparing for an independence referendum as a result of the Covid-19
pandemic and that it did not wish the Commission to undertake testing of a
referendum question until public health circumstances permitted such
activity. Press coverage of this statement is available at:
[3]www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-51944044

 

As a result of the above, the Commission has not commenced any work to
date to re-test the Scottish independence referendum question.

 

 

If you are not satisfied with this response, please note that the
Commission operates a review procedure, details of which can be found on
the Commission website at:

[4]www.electoralcommission.org.uk/freedom-information/make-a-freedom-information-request

 

Please also note that if you have exhausted all internal Commission review
procedures and you are still not satisfied you have the right to appeal to
the Information Commissioner. Details of this procedure can be found on
the ICO website: [5]https://ico.org.uk/

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Team

The Electoral Commission
[6]electoralcommission.org.uk

References

Visible links
1. https://www.thenational.scot/news/182217...
2. https://www.snp.org/nicola-sturgeons-sta...
3. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-s...
4. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/f...
5. https://ico.org.uk/
6. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/