What's the Big Secret?

Compare and contrast the response of the Scottish Government to my recent FoI request to that of North Lanarkshire Council.

In the Scottish Government's case they acknowledge receipt of my request while confirming that they will respond within the 20 working days laid down in the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

In the case of North Lanarkshire I've had to submit a formal Review Request as the Council has failed to respond at all to my original request for information about a minute of its Corporate Management Team dated 11 August 2005.

So what's the big secret?

The Scottish Government
Riaghaltas na h-Alba
SCOTlAND SCOTLAND

Our ref: Fol/14/01382 

21 August 2014

Dear Mr Irvine

FOISA Acknowledgment

Thank you for your requests dated 19 August 2014 under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) asking to;

1 Please confirm the names of all Scottish councils which have applied to the Scottish Government for extra 'borrowing consents' to meet the costs of their outstanding equal pay claims?

2 Please confirm the names of the councils which have made successful requests to date and the amounts of money involved in each case?

3 Please confirm if this facility is still available to Scottish councils in 2014 and the process to be followed in making such a request to the Scottish Government?

We received your request on 20 August 2014 and will respond in accordance with FOISA by 17 September 2014

If you have any queries, please contact me quoting case number Fo1/14/01382.

Yours Sincerely,


Louise Hester 

Scottish Government 

Freedom of Information (18 August 2014)

I've had to submit an FoI 'Review Request' to North Lanarkshire Council because of the Council's failure to respond to my original request within working 20 days as required by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Now I'm quite surprised about this I have to say because up until now North Lanarkshire has behaved quite well in relation to my FoI requests, unlike some other nearby councils I could mention.

So why has NLC come over all coy about releasing a copy of a report to the Council's Corporate Management Team meeting held on 11 August 2005 which dealt with the costs and other issues regarding North Lanarkshire's Job Evaluation Scheme (JES)?

I suspect there is something quite damning contained in this report, but one way or the other  I'm confident that the information will come into the public domain where it belongs because all this secrecy and keeping things hidden form the workforce is quite shameful, if you ask me.

Gavin Whitefield

Chief Executive

North Lanarkshire Council

Dear Mr Whitefield

FoI Review Request

I refer to my letter dated 20 June 2014 and would now like to submit an FoI Review Request given North Lanarkshire Council's failure to respond to me within the time limits laid down by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Please note that if the Council fails to respond to my FoI Review Request in a satisfactory manner, I plan to register an immediate appeal with the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC).

Kind regards

Mark Irvine

-----Original Message-----
From: Whitefield Gavin <WhitefieldG@northlan.gcsx.gov.uk>
To: 'markirvine@compuserve.com' <markirvine@compuserve.com>
Sent: Mon, Jun 23, 2014 10:47 am
Subject: RE: FoI Request

Mr Irvine

I acknowledge receipt of your email regarding the above and would advise that I have forwarded it to the Executive Director of Corporate Services to process as a Freedom of Information enquiry.

Gavin Whitefield Chief Executive Tel: 01698 302452

From: markirvine@compuserve.com [mailto:markirvine@compuserve.com]
Sent: 20 June 2014 11:14
To: Whitefield Gavin
Subject: FoI Request

Flat 8/1

90 London Road

Glasgow

G1 5DE

20 June 2014

Gavin Whitefield

Chief Executive

North Lanarkshire Council

BY E-MAIL TO: whitefieldg@northlan.gov.uk

Dear Mr Whitefield

FOISA Request 

I would like to make the following request under the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002.

1 Please provide me with a copy of the report to the Council's Corporate Management Team (CMT) meeting held 11 August 2005 which dealt with the costs and related issues regarding North Lanarkshire's Job Evaluation Scheme (JES)?

2 Please include copies of all of the relevant Appendices which were attached to this report from the Director of Administration? 

I look forward to your reply and would be grateful if you could respond to me by e-mail to: markirvine@compuserve.com

    

Kind regards

Mark Irvine