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Council officials push to weaken freedom of information law - We Must Oppose this Attempt
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TOPIC: Council officials push to weaken freedom of information law - We Must Oppose this Attempt

Re: Council officials push to weaken freedom of information law - We Must Oppose this Attempt 4 years, 8 months ago #7

  • RM64
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You can read all the submissions here -

www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusines...mmittees/112163.aspx

Re: Council officials push to weaken freedom of information law - We Must Oppose this Attempt 4 years, 8 months ago #8

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You have to ask yourself -


Why did Council not make their own submission?

Are they hiding behind SOLACE/SOLAR ?

It's all done verbally?

Nothing is recorded?

Therefore nothing to disclose via FOI?

You have to question the reliability of the submission? -

Anecdotal meaning -

'Anecdotal evidence is based on individual accounts, rather than on reliable research or statistics, and so may not be valid.'


'(of an account) not necessarily true or reliable, because based on personal accounts rather than facts or research.'


------ Original Message ------
From: "Mahon, Gerry" < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Sent: Thursday, 18 Jul, 2019 At 11:33
Subject: RE: Review of FOISA

Apologies for the delay in replying – as you will have noted from my out of office message I was on annual leave and only recently returned to the office.

Turning to the queries raised in your message, my original response outlining the Council's participation was intended to reflect all individuals employed by the council including the Chief Executive as part of that collective term.

For the sake of absolute clarity I would therefore reaffirm that no officer of the Council, including the Chief Executive, supplied any information to SOLACE/SOLAR in a representative capacity to specifically assist in preparation of their formal response to the consultation.

As regards membership of SOLAR, the Council holds a corporate membership.

This entitles the Council to send any relevant representative to any of the working groups held under the auspices of SOLAR.

Certain Council officers are members of SOLACE on an individual basis but this is personal to them and they do not as such act in a representative capacity in that context.

The Council did not issue a separate response to the consultation on the basis that the response jointly issued by SOLACE/SOLAR was considered reflective of its own views.

No information was supplied by the Chief Executive or other senior officials.

SOLACE did not release a draft response to their membership for comment but rather had the response ratified by their Executive Board.

No East Renfrewshire Council officer is a member of that board.

No information was supplied by the Council specific to the consultation response.

The various working groups set up under SOLAR do however provide a forum for discussion of shared experiences across Councils and anecdotal information is often shared in that context.

The SOLAR response reflected much of that discussion and experience of FOI.

These groups are attended by a variety of legal and administrative officers dependent on the field of work covered, their own area of expertise and experience and availability.

The proposed response was issued generally by SOLAR for comment.

This Council did not offer any comment being satisfied with its terms.

I hope this helps

Regards

Gerry Mahon

Chief Officer – Legal and Procurement

Re: Council officials push to weaken freedom of information law - We Must Oppose this Attempt 4 years, 7 months ago #9

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More answers from Gerry Mahon, Chief Officer – Legal and Procurement


------ Original Message ------
To: "Mahon, Gerry" < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Sent: Thursday, 18 Jul, 2019 At 21:21
Subject: RE: Review of FOISA

Hi Gerry.

Thanks for this.

To me this all looks/sounds very secretive as nothing is recorded and is anecdotal.

Would appreciate if you will clarify -

You say - '
The Council did not issue a separate response to the consultation on the basis that the response jointly issued by SOLACE/SOLAR was considered reflective of its own views.'

Who in the Council considered it 'reflective of its own views.' ?

How was this considered?

When was this considered?

Where was this considered?

What are the Council's own views?

How were these views collected?

Who supplied these views?

Where are these views recorded?

How can these views be accessed?

Thanks



----- Original Message ------
From: "Mahon, Gerry" < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Sent: Tuesday, 6 Aug, 2019 At 09:43
Subject: RE: Review of FOISA

Q. Sorry, I have a few more concerns regarding your reply and feel some aspects require more details to properly explain this.

Q. Would appreciate if you can clarify and answer below.

A. You will appreciate that under the Freedom of Information regime you are entitled to access recorded information rather than be supplied with explanations as you appear to be requesting  in the initial paragraph of your message.
On this occasion and to bring the matter to a close I am however prepared to supply you with the detail sought.

Q. As regards membership of SOLAR, the Council holds a corporate membership
How much does this cost?

A. SOLAR membership currently costs £250


Q. Who are the relevant representatives?

A. Any officers working in the field of law and administration within the Council


Q. What are the working groups?

A. The groups are based on a number of different disciplines within these general fields of work and vary from time to time depending on topical matters at  that particular juncture.  As an example there are longstanding groups for community care, childcare, education, planning, asbo issues, DP/FOI etc
 

Q. Who has attended these working groups?

A. A variety of current and former officers of the Council


Q. please give details of these working groups

A.As above
 

Q. are these working groups minuted etc?

A. Depends on the particular group but generally these are fora for professional discussion and sharing of learning so minutes taken (if any) tend to be fairly  general.


Q. are any details recorded?
 
A. See above. The general tenor of any discussion may be recorded if the group consider it worthwhile and of benefit to other practitioners.
 

Q. Did the ERC Chief Officer, Legal & Procurement attend any of these groups?
 
A. I have attended a number of these different groups over my period as Chief Legal officer and have also, throughout my time  with ERC, participated in them before holding that position
 

Q. Who decided the Council was satisfied with its(SOLAR) terms?
 
A. I did in my capacity as Chief Officer Legal and Procurement having delegated responsibility for FOI matters in terms of the Council’s Scheme of Delegation

 
Q. How was this decided?

A.I considered the terms of the response and compared it to our own views and  experiences of FOI since its inception.


Q. When was this decided?

A. When I saw the proposed terms of the SOLAR response


Q. Where was this decided?

A. It was made by me as part of my general duties  during the working day.  Given your other questions I can only assume this is about the location of the decision making and in that sense do not understand the relevance of the question.


Q. How was this decision made?

A.As above


Q. Where is this decision recorded?

A.The decision is not recorded as no formal communication was required in order  to exercise this delegated authority


Q. How can this decision be accessed?

A. You have already been provided with the detail  of the decision in my previous response with further detail supplied above as to the mechanics of it.
 
Yours sincerely
Gerry Mahon
Chief Officer – Legal and Procurement

 


Sent: 06 August 2019 10:50
To: Mahon, Gerry < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Subject: RE: Review of FOISA

Hi Gerry
 
Thanks for reply regarding SOLACE.
 
You will appreciate that any request for information whether recorded or not is usually treated by ERC as an FOI request.
 
But, as we are all in a benevolent mood, would appreciate reply to below regarding the Council's views on FOI.
 
Thanks


------ Original Message ------
From: "Mahon, Gerry" < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Sent: Tuesday, 6 Aug, 2019 At 12:01
Subject: RE: Review of FOISA

 
my previous message explained that the decision was taken by me under my delegated authority. In essence my views are those of the  Council in this regard. I therefore consider these questions to have been answered,
 
Regards
Gerry

Re: Council officials push to weaken freedom of information law - We Must Oppose this Attempt 4 years, 7 months ago #10

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What do we make of all this?

The Chief Officer, Legal and Procurement made the decision on his own on behalf of the whole council and the Cllrs, to support this view by SOLAS.

The Chief Officer, Legal and Procurement cannot produce the Council views he purports to agree with.

If these Council views do indeed exist, you have to ask, why did ERC not make their own submission to the FOI review?
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