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Leisure Trust - Charity or Secret Society?
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TOPIC: Leisure Trust - Charity or Secret Society?

Re: Leisure Trust - Charity or Secret Society? 3 years, 2 months ago #91

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East Renfrewshire Culture & Leisure Limited
Contact: Anthony McReavy
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Date: 15 January 2021

Freedom of information Request: 101002392713

I am writing with regards to your Freedom of Information Request of 11th January 2021, regarding recording of ERCL Board Meetings.


The meetings are not recorded other than through minutes, and there are no plans to do so.

There is no information held by the Trust in relation to this.


I now regard this matter closed. However, if you should wish to apply for a review of how we have dealt with your enquiry, please apply in writing within 40 working days to:

Chief Officer (Legal and Procurement)
Council Headquarters
Rouken Glen Road
Giffnock
G46 6UG

marking your letter “Freedom of Information, request for review”, and stating the exact nature of the matter you wish to be reviewed.

The review will be carried out within 20 working days of receipt of your appeal. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner who has extensive powers to investigate such matters. His address is:

Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
St. Andrews
Fife KY16 9DS

Yours sincerely
Anthony McReavy
Chief Executive,
St John’s Annex,
Ground Floor,
18 Commercial Road,
Barrhead,
East Renfrewshire,
G78 1AJ
Scottish Charity, number SC486489

Re: Leisure Trust - Charity or Secret Society? 3 years, 2 months ago #92

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To: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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
Sent: Sunday, 17 Jan, 2021 At 11:00
Subject: Request for Freedom of Information(FOI) Review - 101002392713 - Recording/Publication of ERCLT Board Microsoft Teams Video Conference meetings

Chief Officer (Legal and Procurement)
Council Headquarters
Rouken Glen Road
Giffnock
G46 6UG

REQUEST FOR FOI REVIEW

As instructed by Anthony McReavy, CEO, East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust(ERCLT) in their attached response dated 15 January 2021 and

as Gerry Mahon, The Chief Officer Legal & Procurement, has previously stated that FoI is normally a 2 stage process -

'As you will be aware the Council's response to an FOI request does not merely revolve around the initial request but also the review process. It is hoped that any human error in relation to the 1st part of the process is properly remedied at the 2nd stage.'

and The Scottish Information Commissioner has written -

'The duty to advise and assist
Under FOI law, authorities have a duty to advise and assist people who want to access their information. The duty to advise and assist makes sure that customer service and customer engagement are central to FOI practice.
Taking a positive and proactive approach to the duty to advise and assist will strengthen relations with service users and help build trust. Offering help, support and guidance to people looking for information will also reduce the likelihood of more FOI requests.

Legal requirement
The FOI Act requires authorities to provide reasonable advice and assistance to people who have made, or are planning to make, a request for information (section 15).
The EIRs contain a similar provision for requests for environmental information (regulation 9). Both the FOI Act and the EIRs say that authorities which comply with the Scottish Ministers' FOI Code of Practice when providing advice and assistance are complying with the duty under FOI law.'

I wish to request said FOI review.


The Commissioner has written regarding the importance of openness, transparency and scrutiny during the Covid Pandemic.

However, the ERCLT CEO has given no reasons as to why the ERCLT Board meetings are not being recorded and there are no plans to do so.

This is not open and transparent and avoids scrutiny of an important decision.

The CEO says 'The meetings are not recorded other than through minutes, and there are no plans to do so.'

This would indicate that the recording of meetings has been considered and a decision has been made not to record previous/current or future ERCLT Board Meetings.

If so, there must be information available regarding this decision.

I would appreciate ERCLT's/your advice, help and assistance with clarification on

- Who made the decision not to record ERCLT Board meetings and future ERCLT Board meetings?

- How was this decision made?

- Where/when was this decision made?

Full Council and Council Committee meetings are recorded and made publicly available on the East Renfrewshire Council(ERC) YouTube channel.

- Why should ERCLT Board meetings be different?

The Trust Board meetings are held in private behind closed doors and East Renfreshire Residents/Council Tax Payers are denied access to attend.

People are embracing new video technology.

They now expect to see Public Bodies and representatives/officials via this video technology in action making the decisions on spending Council Tax Payers money.

Just producing minutes is no longer good enough.

ERCLT should be embracing this technology and demonstrating that indeed they are open and transparent.

In the current pandemic ERCLT is currently looking for ERC to give them an additional £1,065,000 (they are already given £7.5m) of Council Tax Payers money and it is important that there is scrutiny of the ERCLT Board.

Residents/Council Tax Payers want to and should be able to see how their Council Tax is being spent/used and in this modern age want to see such bodies as the ERCLT Board in action via Video making these decisions.

This is an opportunity for ERCLT to let Residents/Council Tax Payers see the Board in action and to allow them to form their own views.


I would request that ERCLT Board meetings are recorded.


How can the ERCLT Chair Professor Grant Jarvie and the ERCLT Board be approached to initiate an action to discuss/debate

- the merits of recording ERCLT Board Microsoft Teams Video Conference meetings

- whether ERCLT Board Microsoft Teams Video Conference meetings should be recorded

- the merits of making these recordings publicly available on the East Renfrewshire Council YouTube Channel or any equivalent ERCLT channel.

- timescale after a meeting for these recordings to be made publicly available on the East Renfrewshire Council YouTube Channel or any equivalent ERCLT channel.

Your advice, help and assistance with clarification on these important matters will be appreciated.

Thanks

Re: Leisure Trust - Charity or Secret Society? 3 years, 1 month ago #93

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------ Original Message ------
From: "Mahon, Gerry" < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
Sent: Friday, 12 Feb, 2021 At 11:42
Subject: RE: Request for Freedom of Information(FOI) Review - 101002392713 - Recording/Publication of ERCLT Board Microsoft Teams Video Conference meetings

As you are aware, I am not an employee of the Trust and my remit lies only in the handling of reviews of Trust decisions regarding the issue of information under the FOI and EIR regimes.

I therefore have no locus to provide explanations as to Trust policy or indeed to investigate their decisions regarding such.

As regards your desire that the policy is changed, I can only suggest that you write directly to the Trust in that regard.

I note that many of your queries are in fact requests for explanations as to why the Trust does not record Board meetings.

This is not a matter that falls under my remit inasmuch as it is not a request for recorded information

I disagree with your assertion that the Trust response indicates that the recording of meetings has been considered and a decision has been made not to record previous/current or future ERCLT Board Meetings.

The electronic recording of meetings is not the traditional norm such that the Trust would have required to make a conscious decision to depart from it.

Unless a Board member had specifically raised the issue I therefore see no logic in asserting that they must have had discussion regarding its adoption.

In any event, I have investigated whether any recorded information is held in this regard and have been unable to find any such records.

I would therefore indicate that no information is held in terms of s 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

As regards the duty to assist, it extends to providing assistance to requesters to clarify the information they seek.

It does not, to my mind, extend to providing explanations as to policy or practice which are not otherwise recorded.

I do not therefore find that the Trust failed in any such duty.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of this review, you have the right to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner. His address is:

Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
St. Andrews

Yours sincerely
Gerry Mahon
Chief Officer – Legal and Procurement
East Renfrewshire Council

Re: Leisure Trust - Charity or Secret Society? 3 years ago #94

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Made On Line
25/02/2021
101002450889

To: East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust(ERCLT)

Freedom of Information(FOI) request

This FOI concerns the ERCLT Board meeting of Tuesday 16th February 2021

In the published minutes of the Leisure Trust Board for meeting held Tuesday 17 November 2020 it intimated that the next Board meeting was to be held on Tuesday 16th February 2021.

The Trust Board meetings are held in private behind closed doors and East Renfrewshire Residents/Council Tax Payers are denied access to attend.

During the Covid pandemic Trust Board meetings have been held virtually via Via Microsoft Teams Online.

Unfortunately the Trust have decided not to record these meetings(with no reason given) and East Renfrewshire Residents/Council Tax Payers are denied access to watch.

The only information regarding Trust Board meetings is via the minutes.

No other information is published with the agenda/minutes.

Please provide

- Agenda/Minutes.

- Also please provide all material on the subjects discussed/recorded in the minutes which was itself before the Board or referenced by or to the Board in that meeting for each of the items recorded in the minutes.

Electronic copies are acceptable.

Re: Leisure Trust - Charity or Secret Society? 3 years ago #95

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The Trust Board meetings are held in private behind closed doors and East Renfrewshire Residents/Council Tax Payers are denied access to attend.

During the Covid pandemic Trust Board meetings have been held virtually via Via Microsoft Teams Online.

Unfortunately the Trust have decided not to record these meetings(with no reason given) and East Renfrewshire Residents/Council Tax Payers are denied access to watch.

The only information regarding Trust Board meetings is via the minutes.

No other information is published with the agenda/minutes.

Re: Leisure Trust - Charity or Secret Society? 3 years ago #96

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As of 24/03/2021 no response to FOI request of 25/02/2021.

However Minutes have appeared(23/03/2021) on Trust Website more than a month after 16 February 2021 meeting.

East Renfrewshire Culture & Leisure Ltd
(A company which is a Scottish Charity (Scottish Charity Number SC0045726) incorporated in Scotland under the Companies Act with company number SC486489)

Minute of a Meeting of the Board of Trustees of East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Ltd.

via Microsoft Teams,

on Tuesday 16th February 2021 at 4.30pm

Present:
Professor Grant Jarvie (Chair) (GJ)
Andrew Allan (AA)
Provost Jim Fletcher (JF)
Councillor Barbara Grant (BG)
Councillor Colm Merrick(CM)
Dr Noreen Siddiqui (NS)
Rob Crusher (RC)
Steven Larkin (SL)

Apologies:
Councillor Paul O’Kane(PO)

Attending:
Anthony McReavy, Chief Executive (AMcR)
Karen Storie, Director of Finance and Commercial Services (KS)
Mark Ratter, Director of Education ERC (MR)
Margaret McCrossan, Head of Accountancy ERC (MMc)
Moira McFadden, Head of Communities and Arts (MMF)
Ian Pye, Head of Sports and Physical Activity (IP)
Robert Hammond, Head of Operations (RH)
Scott Simpson, Head of Library and Information Services (SS)
Jude Smith, Marketing Manager (JS)
Angela Burgess (minute taker)

1.Welcome & Introductions

The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2.Preliminaries (including apologies and quorum)

Councillor O’Kane was noted as an apology.

The Chair confirmed there are no Declarations of Interest.

The Meeting is quorate.

3.Board Structure - Trustee Membership

Steven Larkin has been re-elected as Unison Branch Secretary and is eligible to stay on the Board and Noreen Siddiqui has completed her first 4 year term and is eligible for re-election to continue as a Board member.

Both Trustees eligible for re-election indicated their wish to remain on the Board for another term.

The Board approved both re-elections.

4.Minutes of previous meeting

Theminutes of 17th November were approved by the Board.

5.Matters arising

There were no Actions from previous minutes.

6.Head of Sports and Physical Activity Presentation

IP gave a presentation on Managing the Well being of Staff during the COVID 19 Pandemic which included:

Challenges of meeting a Duty of Care when majority of staff are furloughed

Maintaining social contact

Wellbeing support programme for staff including Tuesday Check In; Friday Quiz; Closed Facebook group; Trail to Tokyo with Active Schools and team Whatsapp Groups for staff to keep in regular contact with colleagues.

The Trust will continue to monitor and provide support to staff when we move out of lockdown.

SL asked if Managers have been contacting staff individually who don’t like group support.

IP confirmed line managers are in contact with staff on a regular basis in a variety of ways.

AA suggested that key executives engage with staff to give an update on the situation of the business during the pandemic.

AMcR confirmed this was done through Zoom meetings early on but not for a while and this will be looked at again.

Action
-Consider running business update sessions for staff hosted by senior management for staff including opportunities for questions.

7.Chief Executive’s Q3 Scorecard and Business Performance Update

AMcR presented the Q3 performance results.

Work continues online with arts, theatre, virtual fitness classes and vitality classes.

Active Schools continue to support schools open for key workers children and vulnerable children.

Work is underway with HSCP Enrichment programme to assist with vulnerable young people offering activities in a number of areas including sport, arts, swimming.

During closure some projects have been progressed including:

Completion of Leisure Management System Rebuild including launch of App

Website rebuild underway with initial phase due for completion by April 2021

Renewal of Gladstone contract

As COVID restriction levels changed frequently during the quarter, we communicated frequently with our customers advising on service openings, closures, payments and refunds.

We have almost 90% of staff on furlough although that has changed slightly since the vaccination centres have open in Eastwood Park Leisure Centre and Barrhead Foundry.

Completed capital projects include Clarkston Library Refurbishment and Eastwood Park Gym changing rooms.

Ongoing capital projects include Eastwood Leisure Centre and Eastwood Park Masterplan Working Group and Neilston Joint Campus development.

BG asked for an update on the Eastwood Park masterplan.

AMcR stated that this is convened by Environment department but the plans are in the early stages of designand a meeting will be arranged in the next few weeks.

A few Board members have heard very positive feedback from people attending the Vaccination centres.

Both centres are well organised and well run by ERCL staff.

SL also said the Vaccination Centres are very well organised and wanted the Board to know that staff working at the centres have been offered the vaccine to keep them as safe as possible.

In addition MR wanted to thank the Trust for the continued support Active Schools give to the schools as it is invaluable.

8.

a.2020/21 Q3 Financials (incl. Forecast) and Commentary

The financials were taken as read, with an overview of the key points provided by KS.

b.2021‐22 Budget Overview ‐ Draft

AMcR provided an overview of the paper.

BG asked if there was any update if NHS will be covering the cost of the vaccination centres.

MMc said the council have had indications that these costs will be met by NHS.

SL noted the salary increase included in the plan had not been agreed as yet.

KS said this was a base assumption and it will align with the Council when agreed.

The draft budget was approved by the Board.

9.2021‐22 ERCL Draft Business Plan

AMcR presented the draft 2021‐22 ERCL Business Plan including an overview of the current market environment, operational services and initiatives and risks.

This document will be presented to ERC Council in February for their review.

The Board approved the draft Business Plan.

10.2020/21 Pension Valuation Financial Assumptions

The Board approved the proposed salary inflation assumption for the 2020/21Pension Valuation.


11.Proposed Board Meetings dates for 2021/22

The Board members agreed dates for 2021/22.

12.Declarations of Interest

Board members are asked to complete the Declarations of Interest required for audit purposes and return before 31st March 2021.

13.AOCB

No other business

Action Points Agenda Item Action By

5 Set up engagement with Management and Staff via online.AMcR

Approved by Board

3. Board Structure - Trustee Membership The Board approved both re-elections of Steven Larkin and Noreen Siddiqui

4. Minutes of previous meeting The minutes of 17thNovember were approved by the Board

8. Draft Budget The draft budget was approved by the Board

9. Draft Business Plan The Board approved the draft Business Plan

10. 2020/21 Pension Valuation Financial Assumptions The Board approved the proposed salary inflation assumption for the 2020/21 Pension Valuation.

11. Proposed Board Meetings dates for 2021/22 The Board members agreed dates for 2021/22


You can read all Trust Board Agendas/Minutes on Trust Website here -

www.ercultureandleisure.org/about
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