More answers from Gerry Mahon, Chief Officer – Legal and Procurement
------ Original Message ------
To: "Mahon, Gerry" <
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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" <
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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 <
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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" <
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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