Given the various flawed responses, in my opinion, originating from Mr McReavy in relation to FOI requests, it would appear to me that he has no basic understanding of the legislation, or the role he should undertake in responding to such requests.

I would have to suggest that both he and the public of East Renfrewshire would benefit greatly if he was provided with one to one training from the council FOI officer.

Email sent to Council solicitor, Chief Executive and all elected members 3/8/18

Concerns regarding officers time - in relation to FOI(S)A requests
FOI

Tom Taylor
Fri, Aug 3, 2:24 PM
to Gerry, lorraine.mcmillan, caroline.innes, michelle.blair, Craig, Graeme, tony.buchanan, jim.fletcher, paul.okane, danny.devlin, betty.cunningham, Caroline, stewart.miller, Jim, J, gordon.wallace, charlie.gilbert, barbara.grant, David.macdonald, alan.lafferty, angela.convery, colm.merrick, Annette.ireland

Mr Mahon,

I hope that you are well.

I would like to highlight from the outset that this is not a complaint, and I would not wish it to be interpreted as such by any member of staff.

I note that cabinet expressed concern regarding the amount of time officers spend on FOI(S)A requests, and indeed your Chief Executive was also exploring the charging of fees.

Like the elected members of the cabinet I am concerned regarding officers time, although I am looking at it from a different perspective.

FOI(S)A is here to stay and indeed as you are aware there are plans to strengthen and extend it.

It is not to be feared and is a necessary part of the democratic process.

My concern relates to what I perceive as to the amount of time that you, as reviewing officer, and your own staff require to devote to matters that in my opinion should have been dealt with at the request stage by staff.

Very basic errors, for example not appearing to be aware that a section they quote as an exemption, carries with it a duty to apply the public interest test.

These basic and fundamental errors then result in you and your staff having to devote time to deal with a review on those grounds, which if the original officer had dealt with it as required by the legislation you would not necessarily require to devote time to the matter.

This as you are aware is no small matter, I have many instances where this has occurred, and I am aware of a number of others with similar experiences.

I am positive that any FOI in relation to this matter would show that you have required to apologise on many occasions for officers not complying with FOI(S)A legislation, even though you may eventually find against the review request subject matter, which may not appear in the annual statistical reports.

You and I are aware that this lack of attention / or knowledge of the legislation has occurred from members of the CMT down to grass root level, and must cause you and your staff to devote a lot of unnecessary time to rectifying their errors.

On the occasion of a recent FOI I found myself having to provide a course of instruction regarding the charging of fees. This should not have to be the case.

These are not isolated instances and in my opinion nor are they restricted to one department.

I am aware from previous correspondence that as a matter of course, you do not provide feedback on a review to the officer concerned.

Something is fundamentally wrong with the councils system if staff are falling at this and you and your staff require to spend time, which you should not require to do, as a consequence of council staffs failures.

Would it be possible to consider training alternative officers, retraining your existing officers, providing regular feedback of reviews etc.

I am unaware if this would be a matter for Cabinet, CMT, Audit & Scrutiny, Chief Auditor or Audit Scotland to consider and make recommendations.

I will leave this in your hands and as you can see I have copied in those that I think should at least be aware of this subject.


Kind Regards


Tom

A few more problems with ERC and FoI......Response outwith 20 working days and wrong letter received !!!

----Original message----
From : ERC
Date : 07/09/2018 - 14:15 (GMTST)
Subject : RE: RE: Freedom of Information

Your Freedom of Information Ref: 1826404 was received on Tuesday, 7th August 2018, your response was due on Tuesday, 4th September 2018.

Regards
Senior Business Support Assistant
Education Improvement and Support Unit


Sent: 07 September 2018 13:48
To: ERC
Subject: Re: RE: Freedom of Information

Hi

Thanks for this?

Can you confirm the date you received this FoI request.

Can you confirm the number of working days from receipt until this reply.

Thanks

----Original message----
From : ERC
Date : 07/09/2018 - 10:38 (GMTST)
Subject : RE: Freedom of Information

Please accept my apologies, due to an administrative error, you were sent the incorrect response yesterday. Please see correct letter attached.

Regards
Senior Business Support Assistant
Education Improvement and Support Unit


Sent: 06 September 2018 17:00
To: ERC
Cc: Geddes, Craig < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Subject: Fwd: Freedom of Information

Hi

Sorry

Could open response file, but could not find attached joint trust/council action plan.

Thanks


----Original message----
From :ERC
Date : 06/09/2018 - 16:35 (GMTST)
Cc : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Subject : Freedom of Information

Please see response attached

Regards
Senior Business Support Assistant
Education Improvement and Support Unit

Again ERC have problems complying with FOI legislation -

Freedom of information review - independent finance and business review of the trust 09/10/2018

'Before dealing with the substantive merits or otherwise of the use of this exemption,

I would confirm both that the response was issued outwith the statutory 20 working day period

and

neglected to address the public interest test.

For these omissions I apologise on behalf of the Council. '

I do not know if anyone reads or has read Marcus Aurelius 'Meditation', one of his quotes is "To expect bad men not to do wrong is madness".

23/10/2018

'Having spoken with the Director of Environment and examined copies of your emails to him I am satisfied that you did not receive timeous acknowledgement of and response to your communications of 8th, 23rd, 26th and 28th August as would be expected in terms of the council's general policy.

I would accordingly uphold your complaint in this regard.

I have brought my findings to the attention of the director and sought assurances that any future communications will be subject to reply within appropriate timescales.

He has recognised the importance of adhering to the Council’s response timescales and confirmed that any future correspondence will be subject to reply in accordance with Council policies.

Given my determination, may I offer my apologies on behalf of the Council.'

Gerry Mahon
Chief Officer – Legal and Procurement