What A Palaver

I finally received an answer to my FOI request about the Expert Panel established by the Scottish Government - to advise Scottish Ministers on the practical implications of implementing the recommendations the Leveson Report. 

Now the answer - when it finally arrived - what somewhat unusual to say the least:

• The response was five weeks late
• The response said that no fees were claimed by the Expert Panel - which was unusual but good to hear
• The response also stated that only 2 members (out of 5) claimed any expenses and that the total was only £245 - which was also good to hear

But what I don't understand is how that information could possibly take 9 weeks to retrieve - 5 weeks more than the time limits laid down in government legislation.

Now the civil servants who wrote to me have apologised for the delay - but so what?

All they have said is that this was caused by unspecified 'staffing difficulties' which sounds like a load of old baloney - if you ask me.

Now the Scottish Government also told me that they don't hold any records for the Leveson Expert Panel because it is/was an 'independent body' - which I find very odd because I was a member of SLARC (Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee) for years.

SLARC was also an 'independent body' - providing independent advice to Scottish Ministers on the subject of councillor remuneration and expenses - and SLARC was established in a similar way to the Leveson Expert Panel although without a proper recruitment process, as far as I can tell.

Here's what the Scottish Government web site said about the Leveson Expert Panel (LEP) when it was appointed back in December 2012.     

1. Our appointment.

On 13 December 2012 we were appointed by the Scottish Government to consider the recommendations of the Leveson Report as they relate to Scotland. Our Terms of Reference are set out in Appendix 1. In essence, we were invited to proceed on the basis of the findings, principles and recommendations of Part 1 of the Leveson Report[3] and to report in three months. The Leveson Inquiry was UK-wide in its scope. It was set up, and its Terms of Reference[4] were finalised, with the support of the Devolved Governments of the UK in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.[5] Accordingly, without seeking to duplicate or challenge the Leveson thinking, the members of this Group were particularly asked to take account of how the Leveson proposals and the developments that follow the publication of that Report might impact upon Scotland; how they might fall to be modified to take account of the Scottish context; and to advise on statutory underpinning. Our recommendations are to be essentially supplementary to those in Leveson. Both Leveson's and our Terms of Reference refer to "the press": what this covers is discussed in paragraphs 38 and 39.
 So what's the difference between SLARC and LEP, I hear you ask - why should one 'independent' body publish its minutes and related documents - yet the other one operate to entirely different standards?

The answer is that I don't know - but I've submitted another FOI request in an effort to find out.