Glasgow - What We Know, So Far



Here's what we know, so far, regarding my FOI requests on the 'Exit Packages' paid to senior officials of Glasgow City Council. 

Official 1
In 2010/11 the council's former chief solicitor (Ian Drummond) was awarded 'added years' which boosted his already generous pension pot by £250,000 according to my calculations

Total - £250,000

Officials 2 and 3

In 2013/14 two GCC officials left with Exit Packages worth £310,000 (in cash value) and with the pension boost of added years valued at £141,000.

Officials 4 and 5
In 2013/14 another two officials left with Exit Packages worth £380,000 (in cash value) and with the pension boost of added years worth £179,000

Total - £1,010,000 (£451,000 + £559,000)

Official 6
In 2016/17 the council's former director of finance (Lynn Brown) was 'gifted' the sum of £120,079 to allow her to retire early and access her pension early.

Total - £129,079

Now these officials were all in post during the long fight for equal pay in Glasgow City Council and were part of the senior management group which fought tooth and nail to resist the equal pay claims of their lowest paid employees - all the way to the Court of Session which decided that Glasgow's pay arrangements are 'unfit for purpose.

Yet this small group of just 6 senior Glasgow officials walked away with Exit Packages worth £1,389,079 which is quite astonishing if you ask me, especially given their role in protecting the interests of all council employees - including those at the bottom of the pay ladder.  

Please note that Glasgow City Council is currently refusing to answer my FOI request regarding the role that senior officials played in overseeing and introducing the WPBR - on the grounds that it would cost more than £600 to provide this information.


  



Glasgow - FOI, Senior Officials and Equal Pay


Here's an FOI Request to Glasgow City Council asking for further details of an Exit Package paid to a senior council official.

Now in this case the former Executive Director of Finance, Lynn Brown, was not awarded 'added years' - instead the City Council generously decided to pay an additional £120,079 into the Strathclyde Pension Scheme in order for this particular official to retire and access her pension early.

I've asked the City Council to explain who recommended this generous use of public funds and by how much this brought forward the senior official's ability to retire, and I'll share this information in due course on the blog site.

I suspect, by now, that regular readers will probably have noticed the same pattern as me - the council's former chief solicitor benefited from 'added years' and a bumper Exit Package in 2010/11, two more senior officials followed in 2013/14 and another in 2014/15 before the executive director of finance was effectively 'gifted' £120,000 in 2016/17.

The identity of 3 of these individuals is unknown at the moment which is why I have lodged two further FOI Requests to establish who they are along with the name of the person within the City Council who recommended such a generous use of public money.

So I'll be interested to hear what the Council has to say, but surely there have to be proper safeguards in place, otherwise it will look as if the people at the top are feathering their own, or each other's, nests? 

Maybe I'll submit an FOI Request asking how many Home Carers have received a big boost to their pensions from 'added years' - or the generous gift of £120,000 to allow low paid council workers to retire early.

20 April 2018

Annemarie O'Donnell
Chief Executive
Glasgow City Council



By email to - annemarie.odonnell@ced.glasgow.gov.uk



Dear Ms O'Donnell

FOISA Request

I refer to the letter below from John Dickson, Executive Compliance Officer, and would like to make the following request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

1) Please provide me the name and job title of the Council official who recommended that Glasgow City Council should pay £120,079 to compensate the Local Government Pension Scheme for allowing the Council's former Executive Director of Finance, Lynn Brown, to access her pension benefits early?

2) Please provide me with the written explanation for this recommendation and the process by which the expenditure of this large sum of public money approved?

3) Please confirm how long the former Executive Director of Finance would otherwise have had to wait to access her pension benefits, if it were not for this generous use of public funds?

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



Kind regards



Mark Irvine

Dear Mr Irvine,

Freedom Of Information  Request


I refer to your Freedom of Information Request dated 21 March 2018, wherein you asked that certain information be supplied to you, namely :-

“I refer to the Annual Accounts of Glasgow City Council for the year to 31 March 2017 and, specifically, to Paragraph 5.2 (Page 131) which deals with the pension benefits of senior council employees.

1) Please explain the basis of the £134,147 employer pension contribution paid in respect of the Executive Director of Finance, Lynn Brown? I note the figure increased to £134,147 in 2017 from £26,116 in 2016.

2) Please confirm whether this payment was made in respect of 'added years' and what impact this payment had on the Executive Director's pension benefits?

3) Please provide a copy of the council correspondence or the official council report which recommended that the Executive Director should be awarded 'added years'.

The Council is treating your request as a request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

The information you have requested is as follows :

1) Please explain the basis of the £134,147 employer pension contribution paid in respect of the Executive Director of Finance, Lynn Brown? I note the figure increased to £134,147 in 2017 from £26,116 in 2016.

Ø  The sum of £134,147 as quoted in the annual accounts comprised of £14,068 employer contributions before the Executive Director of Finance retired on 30 September 2016 and £120,079 as a one off payment to the Local Government Pension Scheme as recompense for the early release of pension rights

2) Please confirm whether this payment was made in respect of 'added years' and what impact this payment had on the Executive Director's pension benefits?

Ø  The executive Director of Finance, Lynn Brown was not awarded “added years”

3) Please provide a copy of the council correspondence or the official council report which recommended that the Executive Director should be awarded 'added years'.

Ø  Not applicable

The Council accordingly feels that it has complied in full with your request.  However, if you feel that this is not the case or have any questions relating to information contained within the spreadsheet, I can be contacted at the noted e-mail address or on telephone number 0141-287-8186.


  


Glasgow - FOI, Senior Officials and Equal Pay (02/05/18)



Here's another FOI Request to Glasgow City Council asking for further information about an Exit Package for a senior council official which was boosted by the award of 'added years' at a cost of £47,000 - taking the total value of the package to £171,000 in 2014/15.

Now I could be wrong, but I seem to see the signs of a pattern developing here, so watch this space - as there's more to follow soon.


26 April 2018

Annemarie O'Donnell
Chief Executive
Glasgow City Council

Dear Ms O'Donnell
FOISA Request

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

I refer to Glasgow City Council's Annual Accounts for 2014/15 and the entry on Page 129 which an Exit Package at Band £150,000 to £200,000. The package is broken down further under the following headings:

Number - 1
Cash value - £124,000
Notional Capitalised Added Years value - £47,000
Total - £171,000

1) Please provide me the name and job title of the official who benefited from these Added Years payments?

2) Please explain the impact of these Added Years payments on the official's lump sum  and annual pension?

3) Please provide me with the name and job title of the council official who recommended the award of Added Years

4) Please provide me with any written correspondence of documents supporting the recommendation to award Added Years? 

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


Mark Irvine 

  

Glasgow - FOI, Senior Officials and Equal Pay (01/05/18)


While Glasgow's low paid equal pay claimants have had to fight every inch of the way to enforce their employment rights through the highest courts in Scotland, senior officials in the City Council seem to have had a much easier time of things.

Here's my latest FOI Request which is trying to get to the bottom of Exit Packages paid to four senior officials in 2013/14 which were apparently boosted by £320,000 through the award of 'added years' to their pension pots.

Now the Council's annual accounts don't explain in any detail the benefit of 'added years' and in the case of another former chief official I calculated the added value to be worth at least £250,000. 

And this from the same council which rejected my previous FOI Request (regarding the WPBR) on the grounds that it would cost more than £600 to answer the points I raised about the role played by senior officials during the introduction of the WPBR in 2005/07.

As you can see, I am also keen to know who within the City Council is recommending the award of these added years at such huge public expense - and once I get the answer I'll share the information on the blog site.

In the meantime, if readers have any thoughts about double standards and/or hypocrisy when it comes to using public money, please drop me a note: markirvine@compuserve.com 




27 April 2018


Annemarie O'Donnell
Chief Executive
Glasgow City Council


Dear Ms O'Donnell
FOISA Request

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

I refer to Glasgow City Council's Annual Accounts for 2013/14 and the entries on Exit Packages at Band £200,001 to £250,000 and Band £250,001 to £300,00. The packages referred to in the Annual Accounts are broken down further under the following headings:

Band £201,000 to £250,000

Number - 2
Cash value - £310,000
Notional Capitalised Added Years value - £141,000
Total - £451,000

Band £250,001 to £300,000

Number - 2
Cash value - £380,000
Notional Capitalised Added Years value - £179,000
Total - £559,000

1) Please provide me the names and job titles of the officials who benefited from these Added Years payments?

2) Please explain the impact of these Added Years payments on the officials' lump sums  and annual pensions?

3) Please provide me with the name and job title of the council official who recommended the award of Added Years

4) Please provide me with any written correspondence of documents supporting the recommendation to award Added Years? 

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


Mark Irvine 


  

Glasgow's Low Paid Workers Get 'Capped' - Council Boss Cops £250,000 Pay 'Bonus' (15/06/170



Glasgow City Council have suddenly backtracked on the previous decision to refuse my FoI request regarding the payment of 'added years' to boost a senior official's leaving package. 

After registering an appeal with the Scottish Information Commissioner, the City Council wrote to me in the following terms:  

Mr Irvine,

I refer to your recent Freedom of Information request to the Council regarding Mr Drummond’s leaving package. We have received correspondence from the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner advising us that you have requested a decision from them on this matter.

Your request for review stated that you were looking for “a review of the City Council's refusal to answer Part 3 of my original FOI request in which I asked whether Mr Drummond's remuneration package included any discretionary benefits such as 'added years' in respect of the Local Government Pension Scheme”. We advised you in our letter of 7th April 2017 that we considered the information that you were looking for constituted personal data and as such, was exempt in terms of s38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. For the reasons set out in the Council’s review decision letter, we did not consider that you had a legitimate interest in obtaining the data.

Although Mr Drummond no longer works for the Council, we have been able to contact him to ask whether he would prepared to give consent to the release of the information you have requested. The Council recognises that personal data may be released if consent is provided by the data subject to do so. Mr Drummond has now consented to release of the information requested to you. 


Accordingly, please note that Ian Drummond received added years to his pension. Due to his age and length of service, this was on the basis of 6 and 2/3rds “added years” to his pension, in line with the Committee Report calculation (attached). 

This calculation was applied to all staff who left at this time. The Annual accounts previously sent to you show that Mr Drummond received £109,000 “compensation for loss of office”. This figure comprises a £33,000 enhanced lump sum from the added years plus £76,000 redundancy payment. 

There is an £11,000 per annum addition to Mr Drummond’s pension arising from the added years calculation. No payments for loss of office were made to Mr Drummond beyond the standard formula set out in the policy, i.e. maximum 6 2/3 added years (applied to the calculation of both the lump sum and the annual pension) plus maximum 30 weeks’ pay as a redundancy lump sum as Mr Drummond was aged over 50 and had access to his pension.  

Please note that election payments (made to Mr Drummond as a result of the then chief executive being on long term sickness absence following a heart attack) are not pensionable and did not give rise to any additional payment of either pension, lump sum, or redundancy payment.

I trust this answers the query posed in your request for review.

Regards,


FOI Review Team

So the upshot is that Mr Drummond did receive a big boost to his pension plan - in the shape of an extra £33,000 by way of a lump sum plus another £11,000 a year on top of his annual pension payment.

Now this is an extra, 'discretionary' payment remember - and it should be compared to the way low paid council employees are treated, often after a lifetime's work in Glasgow's essential front-line services.

In fact, if you make the not reasonable assumption that Mr Drummond will draw his pension for another 20 years, the extra boost to his pension is worth at least £253,000 - i.e. 20 years x £11,000 (£220,000) + £33,000 = £253,000.

But what really gets my goat is that this Labour-run council placed a 'cap' or ceiling on the equal pay settlements of the Council's lowest paid workers back in 2005 - the most anyone received was just £9,000 which meant thousands of people were 'duped' into accepting much less than their claims were really worth.

As regular readers know, the local trade unions were involved in negotiating this unfair cap on people's settlements, yet they now try to claim credit for fighting the 'good fight' over equal pay. 

Shameless to the end, the unions then made light of of their terrible track record and tried to tempt A4ES clients to go back to them once the Court of Session ruled that Glasgow's equal pay claimants had been unfairly treated and badly let down. 

Give me a break, please! 

Because the reality is that Glasgow City Council and the local trade unions worked together to ensure that '1st Wave' equal pay settlements were much lower than the real value of people's claims in the run-up to Christmas 2005.

In 2006 they also agreed to give special treatment to all of the 'red circled', former bonus earning, traditional male jobs when the Workforce Pay and Benefits Review was introduced - without first of all bringing women's pay into line with the men, a hugely significant point that was highlighted in the recent judgment from the Court of Session.

So if you ask me, the Labour Council bosses and the spineless Labour trade unions should all be thoroughly ashamed of their behaviour.


   



Glasgow and Equal Pay (26/05/17)


The Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) invited me to make a further submission in respect of my appeal against Glasgow City Council's refusal to explain whether one of its senior officials had his leaving package boosted with 'added years'.

Here's what I had to say along with a previous post explaining the background to my original FoI request.

Dear SIC

Thank you for your letter dated 10 May 2017.

In my view Glasgow City Council does not have a valid reason for refusing my request, not least because much of this information has already been released with the disclosure that Mr Drummond received a remuneration package worth £462,555 in the year ended 31 March 2011.

According to the Council the figure of £462,555 comprised of £211,000 in accrued pension benefits plus £251,555 in Salary Fees and Allowances, Compensation for Loss of Office and Election Duties.

My FoI request in respect of 'added years' does not affect the figures already released into the public domain and the issue comes down to whether or not the Council used its powers to provide Mr Drummond's leaving package with a further financial boost using public funds.      

I believe I have a legitimate interest in the City Council's use of public money as a taxpayer, especially when government at all levels (both local and national) have been operating on tight budgets.

In 2005 Glasgow City Council 'capped' equal pay settlement offers to thousands of low paid women workers at a maximum of £9,000 even though their employees claims were worth considerably more than £9,000. Mr Drummond was the City Council's chief legal officer at that time.

In my view the public has a right to know whether or not the City Council was especially generous to one of its senior officials and if so, the reasons for someone at the top of the organisation receiving more favourable treatment than the 'foot-soldiers' at the bottom of the pay ladder. 

I cannot see how the release of this information can be detrimental to Mr Drummond in any way since the decision to award 'added years' or not lay with the City Council - not Mr Drummond himself.

For these reasons and those detailed in my original submission I would ask the Scottish Information Commissioner to uphold my appeal.  

Kind regards



Mark Irvine


    


Glasgow and Equal Pay (20/04/17)


I said in a recent post that I would be submitting an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) over Glasgow City Council's refusal to confirm whether a senior official's leaving package benefited from 'added years'. 

So here is my letter of appeal to SIC and if you ask me, the City Council has a real cheek in refusing to disclose this information.

I suspect the answer is that when it comes to boosting people's pensions with 'added years' senior officials are treated more generously than the council's foot-soldiers, but let's see what SIC has to say.    


  


 10 April 2017

Dear Ms Agnew

Glasgow City Council (GCC) – FOISA Appeal

I enclose an exchange of correspondence with Glasgow City Council (GCC) regarding a FOISA enquiry I initiated with the council on 15 February 2017. 

I asked for a review of GCC’s initial response on 16 March 2017, but I am dissatisfied with the council's answer and refusal to provide me with the information I requested regarding a senior official's leaving package. 

I would, therefore, like to register an appeal with the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) for the following reasons: 
  1. The information I requested relates to GCC as an employer and, specifically, the council's ability to use its discretionary powers to award extra 'added years' to boost the value of an employee's leaving package.
  2. An employer's decision to use its discretion in this way represents a cost to the public purse - one which is borne by the council alone and not the individual employee.
  3. In its response to my Review Request, the council raises a number of 'red herring' points about 'employee contributions' and 'opting into or out of the scheme', but these are completely bogus arguments because they have no bearing on the employer's ability, or otherwise, to award 'added years'. 
  4. I reject the council's assertion that I do not have a legitimate interest in the matter. As a publicly minded citizen and Glasgow council tax payer, I believe I am perfectly entitled to know how Scotland's largest council is spending public funds.
  5. I also believe that the council has a duty to ensure that its most senior, highly paid officials are not treated any more favourably than other council employees.
  6. If GCC did not award 'added years' to this official's leaving package, then the council should have answered 'No' in its initial response and the matter would simply have ended there.
  7. If GCC had any genuine concern about an employee's personal data, the council should have answered "Yes, Mr Drummond' was awarded 'X' number of added years to his leaving package, but we decline to provide further details as we believe this information constitutes personal data" - leaving the matter open to a further appeal (by me) to the Scottish Information Commissioner.
  8. Instead GCC has chosen to obfuscate and conceal whether or not its powers of discretion were used in the case of its Executive Director of Corporate Services who was, I believe, the author of the original 'redundancy and retirement' report. 
  9. In my view, GCC does not have a legitimate reason for withholding this information and I suspect the real motive behind its refusal to answer this particular aspect of my FoI request is a desire to shield the council from criticism over its use of public money. 
I look forward to hearing from you in due course and if you require any further details or clarification at this stage, please contact me by e-mail at markirvine@compuserve.com


Kind regards



Mark Irvine 

List of enclosures x 4

1 Original FOISA request to GCC dated 15 February 2017
2 Initial response from GCC dated 15 March 2009
3 Review Request letter to GCC dated 16 March 2017
4 Final response letter from GCCC dated 7 April 2017


Enclosure 1 - Original FOISA Request dated 1 February 2017

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Irvine <markirvine@compuserve.com>
To: annemarie.odonnell <annemarie.odonnell@ced.glasgow.gov.uk>
Sent: Wed, Feb 15, 2017 4:04 pm
Subject: FoI Request




15 February 2017


Annemarie O'Donnell

Chief Executive

Glasgow City Council





Dear Ms O'Donnell
FOISA Request
I would like to make the following request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. 
I refer to the article in The Telegraph newspaper dated 25 April 2012 which reported the remuneration package of Ian Drummond (in the previous year) as £450,628.

I understand that Mr Drummond left the City Council's employment in 2010-11 and that the figure of £450,628 will have represented a 'leaving package'.

I would be grateful if you could:  
  1. Provide me with a breakdown of the £450,628 figure into its component parts, i.e annual salary, pension payments etc 
  2. Explain the basis of the 'compensation for loss of office' payment and how this payment was calculated
  3. Confirm whether Mr Drummond's remuneration package benefited from any discretionary payments, e.g. 'added years' under the Local Government Pension Scheme
I look forward to your reply and would be grateful if you could respond to me by e-mail at: markirvine@compuserve.com
Kind regards
Mark Irvine 


Mobile - 07947 795222


Enclosure 2 - GCC's Initial Response to my FOISA request 
  

-----Original Message-----
From: Dickson, John (Revenues) (Revenues) <John.Dickson@glasgow.gov.uk>
Sent: Wed, Mar 15, 2017 3:36 pm
Subject: FOI request

Financial Services
Glasgow City Council
Room 10
City Chambers,
Glasgow  G2
Phone 0141 287 8186
Fax 0141 287 9568
Corporate Services
Glasgow City Council
City Chambers
George Square
Glasgow   G2  1DU

Phone 0141 287 8186

Fax 0141 287 4575


Date  15 March 2017

Mr Mark Irvine

Sent by email to: markirvine@compuserve.com

Dear Mr Irvine,  

Freedom Of Information  Request

I refer to your Freedom of Information request received on 16 February 2017 requesting that the following information be provided to you:
“I understand that Mr Drummond left the City Council's employment in 2010-11 and that the figure of £450,628 will have represented a 'leaving package'.
I would be grateful if you could:  
1.         Provide me with a breakdown of the £450,628 figure into its component parts, i.e annual salary, pension payments etc 
2.         Explain the basis of the 'compensation for loss of office' payment and how this payment was calculated
3.         Confirm whether Mr Drummond's remuneration package benefited from any discretionary payments, e.g. 'added years' under the Local Government Pension Scheme”
The Council is treating your request as a request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Please note, some of the information which you have requested is, in our opinion, exempt from a request under section 1 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 because of an exemption contained in s 38(1)(b) of the Act.  In other words, in our opinion disclosure of the information would involve disclosure of personal data as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998 (as amended) and that such disclosure would breach the Data Protection Principles contained in Schedule 1 Part 1 of that Act.  We are therefore unable to comply fully with your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
The information which you have requested and which can be provided is as follows :
1.         Provide me with a breakdown of the £450,628 figure into its component parts, i.e annual salary, pension payments etc 
Ø  Within the Councils 2010/11 annual accounts, as a Senior Officer, Mr Drummonds annual remuneration was detailed as follows:
4.3. Remuneration of senior employees                                                    
Year ended 31 March 2011
            
            
Remuneration           Salary fees           Compensation            Election Duties          Total
of senior                     and                        for loss of 
employees                 allowances           office               
                                
                                                                                
Ian Drummond          £ 132,051               £ 109,303                         £ 10,201            £ 251,555
Executive Director of Corporate Services
(to December 2010)
and Executive Director of Special Projects 
(from December 2010)
Thereafter, within the annual accounts, as a Senior Officer Mr Drummond’s Pension Benefit’s were detailed as such :
5.2. Pension benefits of senior employees      
In year pension contributions                     Accrued pension benefits
Pension benefits of 
senior employees                 For year to 31 March 2011               As at 31 March 2011
                        
                       
Ian Drummond                            £ 199,073                        Pension         -  £    56,000
          Lump sum     -   £ 155,000
2.         Explain the basis of the 'compensation for loss of office' payment and how this payment was calculated
Ø  Please see attachment, detailing Council’s policy on redundancy and retirement provisions for the requested period, which was approved by the Executive Committee on 13 November 2009.
3.         Confirm whether Mr Drummond's remuneration package benefited from any discretionary payments, e.g. 'added years' under the Local Government Pension Scheme”
Ø  This request relates to personal information which is exempt in terms of section 38(1)(b) the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, as explained above.
I trust the above information is of assistance. If you have any further enquiries or questions I can be contacted on telephone number 0141-287-8186 or at the noted e-mail address.
However, should you be dissatisfied with the way Glasgow City Council has dealt with your request you are entitled to require the council to review its decision.  Please note that for a review to take place you must:
Lodge a written requirement for a review within 40 working days of the date of this letter. Include a correspondence address and a 
description of the original request and the reason why you are dissatisfied.
Address your request to the :
Director of Governance and Solicitor to the Council
Glasgow City Council
City Chambers
George Square
Glasgow G2 1DU
You will receive notice of the results of the review within 20 working days of receipt of your request.  The notice will state the decision reached by the reviewing officer as well as details of how to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner if you are still dissatisfied with the Council’s response.  You must request an internal review by the Council before a complaint can be directed to the Scottish Information Commissioner.  For your information at this stage, an appeal can be made to the Scottish Information Commissioner by contacting her office as follows if you do remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the Council’s review decision -  
Address: Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, KY16 9DS. 
Telephone: 01334 464610
You can also use the Scottish Information Commissioner’s online appeal service to make an application for a decision: 
Please note that you cannot make an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner until you have first requested an internal review by the Council.
If you wish to submit a complaint to the Council in relation to the manner in which it has handled your request for information then you can do so by requesting that the Council review its decision. Details of how to request a review are set out in the above paragraph “Right of Review”.
Yours sincerely
John Dickson
Executive Compliance Officer
Financial Services 
Glasgow - UK Council of the Year 2015
Disclaimer:
This email is from Glasgow City Council or one of its Arm’s Length Organisations (ALEOs). Views expressed in this message do not necessarily reflect those of the council, or ALEO, who will not necessarily be bound by its contents. If you are not the intended recipient of this email (and any attachment), please inform the sender by return email and destroy all copies. Unauthorised access, use, disclosure, storage or copying is not permitted. Please be aware that communication by internet email is not secure as messages can be intercepted and read by someone else. Therefore, we strongly advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to someone else, would be likely to cause you distress. If you have an enquiry of this nature then please write to us using the postal system. If you chose to email this information to us there can be no guarantee of privacy. Any email including its content may be monitored and used by the council, or ALEO, for reasons of security and for monitoring internal compliance with the office policy on staff use. Email monitoring or blocking software may also be used. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to make sure that any email you write or forward is within the bounds of the law. Glasgow City Council, or ALEOs, cannot guarantee that this message or any attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted and amended. You should perform your own virus checks.


Enclosure 3 - Review Request Letter from Mark Irvine

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Irvine <markirvine@compuserve.com>
To: FOIreviews <FOIreviews@glasgow.gov.uk>
Sent: Thu, Mar 16, 2017 1:05 pm
Subject: Fwd: FOI request

Dear Glasgow City Council

FOISA Review Request

I would like to register a formal FOI Review Request in response to Glasgow City Council's refusal to provide me with information regarding Mr Ian Drummond's remuneration package upon leaving the City Council's employment in 2010-2011.

Specifically, I am seeking  a review of the City Council's refusal to answer Part 3 of my original FOI request in which I asked whether Mr Drummond's remuneration package included any discretionary benefits such as 'added years' in respect of the Local Government Pension Scheme.

I do not agree that this information is exempt as personal information given Mr Drummond's position as one of the City Council's most senior officials. In my view, since other aspects of Mr Drummond's remuneration package have been released, the same logic must apply to any discretionary payments agreed by the Council in respect of this employee.

Furthermore, I believe this is especially important since Mr Drummond, as Executive Director of Corporate Services, appears to be the author of the report on 'discretionary redundancy and retirements payments'  from which he seems  to have benefited personally on leaving the City Council's employment.

I look forward to hearing from you and would be grateful if you could respond to me via email at: markirvine@compuserve.com

Kind regards



Mark Irvine


Enclosure 4 - GCC's Final Response letter dated 7 April 2017

Our Ref RQST6081264/HC Your Ref
7th April 2017
By email: markirvine@compuserve.com

Dear Mr Irvine

Director of Governance and Solicitor to the Council Carole Forrest LLB DipLP
Glasgow City Council
City Chambers
George Square
Glasgow G2 1DU
DX GW145
Legal Post: Corporate & Property Law
LP-4, Glasgow 10
Hand Deliveries to: 40 John Street Glasgow G1 1JL

page1image6088
REQUEST FOR REVIEW UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002 (“THE ACT”)

Thank you for your email of 16th March 2017 requesting a review of the response by Glasgow City Council (“the Council”) to your request for information under the Act.

YOUR REQUEST
You submitted a request on 16th February 2017 for the following information:
“I would like to make the following request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
I refer to the article in TheTelegraphnewspaper dated 25 April 2012 which reported the remuneration package of Ian Drummond (in the previous year) as £450,628.

I understand that Mr Drummond left the City Council's employment in 2010-11 and that the figure of £450,628 will have represented a 'leaving package'.

I would be grateful if you could:
  1. Provide me with a breakdown of the £450,628 figure into its component parts, i.e annual salary, pension payments etc
  2. Explain the basis of the 'compensation for loss of office' payment and how this payment was calculated
  3. Confirm whether Mr Drummond's remuneration package benefited from any discretionary payments, e.g. 'added years' under the Local Government Pension Scheme”
THE DECISION

The Council emailed you on 3rd March 2017 and provided you with a response to your request for information. The content of the response is reproduced in the under-note for ease of reference.

YOUR REQUEST FOR REVIEW

On 16th March 2017 you emailed the Council requesting a formal review of the decision. Your review request is reproduced in the under-note for reference.


THE REVIEW DECISION

I have carried out a full and impartial review of the initial response provided to you with regards to the withheld information. I can confirm that I uphold the original decision to withhold certain non-publically available information. I refer you to Decision 139/2012 which held that disclosing information about income received by a living individual on their retirement would breach s38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
In terms of the application of s38(1)(b) to the information you requested, the following points are noted:
1. Is the information requested personal data, as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998?
Section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998 defines personal data as data which relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data or from other information in the possession of/likely to come into the possession of the data controller.

The Council is of the view that the information you have requested is personal data as it relates to income received by a living individual on retirement. The information clearly relates to a former employee of the Council and, in this context, would identify him as the request only relates to one individual.
  1. Would disclosure breach the first data protection principle?
    Disclosure of the withheld information would breach the first data protection principle. This requires that personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless at least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 to the DPA is met. The processing would be the requested release of the withheld information into the public domain.
  2. Schedule 2 of the Data Protections Act 1998
    For this matter, it appears that the most relevant condition of Schedule 2 is contained in paragraph 6 which permits processing if the processing is necessary for the ‘purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the data controller or by the third party or parties to whom the data are disclosed, except where the processing is unwarranted in any particular case by reason of prejudice to the rights and freedoms or legitimate interests of the data subject’.
    To assess whether paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 is met, the Council has considered whether you have a legitimate interest in obtaining the data.
    There is no specific definition of ‘legitimate interest’ in the Data Protection Act 1998. TheSIC has noted in guidance that in ‘some cases, the legitimate interest might be personal to the applicant e.g. he or she might want the information in order to bring legal proceedings. With most requests, however, there are likely to be wider legitimate interests, such as the scrutiny of the actions of public bodies or public safety.’
    The SIC has previously noted that salaries are derived from public funds & as such, there is a potential for there to be a legitimate interest in them. However, the SIC has stated in Decision 139/2012 that information about occupational pension arrangements has a different nature. This is because ‘the value of an occupational pension is a product of contributions made by both an employee and their employer (and also, in the case of the scheme under consideration at least, receipts from invested funds), and the value of that pension will be a product of a range of factors, including the length of service and salary, but also decisions taken by the employee. For example, an employee may choose to opt in or out of a pension scheme; they might transfer contributions from the pension scheme of one employer to the scheme of another, or make additional voluntary contributions.’ Accordingly, there is no general legitimate interest in knowing the value of an individual’s pension.
    In your request for review, you said you considered that as ‘other aspects of Mr Drummond's remuneration package have been released, the same logic must apply to any discretionary payments agreed by the Council in respect of this employee’. I would note however, that information that has been released is in accordance with the CIPFA Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting.
As the Council does not consider you to have a legitimate interest, consideration is not given here as to:
  1. (a)  whether such disclosure is necessary to achieve these legitimate aims (i.e. if the disclosure is proportionate as a means and fairly balanced as to ends, or could these legitimate aims be achieved by means which interfere less with the privacy of the former employees); or
  2. (b)  whether the disclosure would cause unwarranted prejudice to the rights and freedoms or legitimate interests of the former employee.
Condition 6 has not been met and therefore, the Council regards disclosure of the withheld information as unlawful. Disclosure would breach the first data protection principle and as such, the initial decision to withhold this information is upheld.

RIGHT OF APPEAL

I hope you are satisfied with this response. However, if you are not you have the right to make an application within six months of receipt of this letter for a decision by the Scottish Information Commissioner. The Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted as follows:
Address: Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, KY16 9DS. Email: enquiries@itspublicknowledge.infoTelephone: 01334 464610
You can also use the Scottish Information Commissioner’s online appeal service to make anapplication for a decision:

Thereafter a decision by Scottish Information Commissioner may be appealed on a point of law to the Court of Session.

Yours sincerely


CAROLE FORREST
DIRECTOR OF GOVERNANCE AND SOLICITOR TO THE COUNCIL
page3image15128 page3image15288
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Under-note
FOI response dated 3rd March 2017
I refer to your Freedom of Information request received on 16 February 2017 requesting that the following information be provided to you:

“I understand that Mr Drummond left the City Council's employment in 2010-11 and that the figure of £450,628 will have represented a 'leaving package'.

I would be grateful if you could:

1. Provide me with a breakdown of the £450,628 figure into its component parts, i.e annual salary, pension payments etc
2. Explain the basis of the 'compensation for loss of office' payment and how this payment was calculated
3. Confirm whether Mr Drummond's remuneration package benefited from any discretionary payments, e.g. 'added years' under the Local Government Pension Scheme”

The Council is treating your request as a request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Please note, some of the information which you have requested is, in our opinion, exempt from a request under section 1 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 because of an exemption contained in s 38(1)(a) of the Act. In other words, in our opinion disclosure of the information would involve disclosure of personal data as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998 (as amended) and that such disclosure would breach the Data Protection Principles contained in Schedule 1 Part 1 of that Act. We are therefore unable to comply fully with your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

The information which you have requested and which can be provided is as follows:

1. Provide me with a breakdown of the £450,628 figure into its component parts, i.e annual salary, pension payments etc
 Within the Councils 2010/11 annual accounts, as a Senior Officer, Mr Drummonds annual remuneration was detailed as follows:
4.3. Remuneration of senior employees - Year ended 31 March 2011
page4image16984 page4image17144
Remuneration of senior employees
page4image19592
Salary fees and allowances
Compensation for loss of office
Election duties
page4image24528 page4image24848
Total
Ian Drummond
Executive Director of Corporate Services
(to December 2010)
and Executive Director of Special Projects
(from December 2010)
£ 132,051
£ 109,303
£ 10,201
page4image32512 page4image32832
£ 251,555

Thereafter, within the annual accounts, as a Senior Officer Mr Drummond’s Pension Benefit’s weredetailed as such:

5.2. Pension benefits of senior employees
page4image38208
In year pension contributions
page4image39256
Accrued pension benefits
Pension benefits of senior employees
For year to 31 March 2011
As at 31 March 2011
Ian Drummond
page4image46744
£ 199,073
Pension - £ 56,000 Lump sum - £ 155,000

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2. Explain the basis of the 'compensation for loss of office' payment and how this payment was calculated
 Please see attachment, detailing Council’s policy on redundancy and retirement provisions for the requested period, which was approved by the Executive Committee on 13 November 2009.

3.
discretionary payments, e.g. 'added years' under the Local Government Pension Scheme”
Confirm whether Mr Drummond's remuneration package benefited from any
 This request relates to personal information which is exempt in terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Request for review – 16th March 2017:

I would like to register a formal FOI Review Request in response to Glasgow City Council's refusal to provide me with information regarding Mr Ian Drummond's remuneration package upon leaving the City Council's employment in 2010-2011.

Specifically, I am seeking a review of the City Council's refusal to answer Part 3 of my original FOI request in which I asked whether Mr Drummond's remuneration package included any discretionary benefits such as 'added years' in respect of the Local Government Pension Scheme.

I do not agree that this information is exempt as personal information given Mr Drummond's position as one of the City Council's most senior officials. In my view, since other aspects of Mr Drummond's remuneration package have been released, the same logic must apply to any discretionary payments agreed by the Council in respect of this employee.

Furthermore, I believe this is especially important since Mr Drummond, as Executive Director of Corporate Services, appears to be the author of the report on 'discretionary redundancy and retirements payments' from which he seems to have benefited personally on leaving the City 

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