{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/uk-withdrawal-from-the-european-union-continuity-scotland-act-2021/section-40",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/uk-withdrawal-from-the-european-union-continuity-scotland-act-2021/section-40.json",
  "legislation": "asp/2021/4",
  "legislation_title": "UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/uk-withdrawal-from-the-european-union-continuity-scotland-act-2021",
  "path": "section/40",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "40",
  "heading": "Confidentiality of proceedings",
  "text": "(1) Environmental Standards Scotland must not disclose—\n(a) information obtained under section 23(1) or 24(1), or\n(b) correspondence between Environmental Standards Scotland and a public authority that—\n(i) relates to a particular information notice or compliance notice, or to the preparation of a particular improvement report,\n(ii) is, or contains, such a notice or an unpublished draft of such a report.\n(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to—\n(a) a disclosure (other than a disclosure of an information notice, a compliance notice or an unpublished draft of an improvement report) made with the consent of the public authority who provided the information or correspondence,\n(b) a disclosure made for purposes connected with the exercise of Environmental Standards Scotland's functions,\n(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,\n(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,\n(e) a disclosure made for the purposes of civil proceedings,\n(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,\n(g) a disclosure made in pursuance of an order of a court or tribunal,\n(h) a disclosure made in accordance with any other enactment requiring or permitting the disclosure.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "S. 40 in force at 1.10.2021 by S.S.I. 2021/304, reg. 2(a)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2021/4/section/40",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-07T03:33:00.235346+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}