Freedom of Information (11/12/14)



Here's the letter from the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) announcing her  recent decision in respect of North Lanarkshire Council (NLC).

One point in the decision which made me laugh is that the Commissioner agreed that the Council was entitled to withhold 'personal data' contained within in the CMT (Corporate Management Team) report.

But I had never asked for such information in the first place and in response to an enquiry from SIC, I was happy to confirm that the details should be withheld as I had no interest in people's 'personal data'.

In other words this issue was used by North Lanarkshire Council as another bogus reason for refusing to release the CMT report from August 2005, but thankfully SIC gave the Council's arguments short shrift and has now ordered publication of the document in the New Year.   


Dear Mr Irvine

Decision by Scottish Information Commissioner
Public Authority: North Lanarkshire Council

On 2 September 2014, you asked the Commissioner to investigate whether North Lanarkshire Council (the Council) complied with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) in responding to your information request of 20 June 2014. The request was for a report to the Council’s Corporate Management Team in August 2005. 

The Commissioner has decided that the Council was entitled to withhold the personal information in appendix 6 of the report under the exemption in section 38(1)(b) of FOISA.   

However, she also decided that the Council failed to comply with Part 1 of FOISA by failing to inform you (in terms of section 17(1)) that it did not hold some of the requested information.

The Commissioner also decided that the Council was not entitled to withhold the remaining information under the exemption in section 30(c) of FOISA. 

She has ordered the Council to disclose all of the withheld information to you, with the exception of the personal data in appendix 6 by 23 January 2015.  

I enclose a copy of the Commissioner’s decision. The decision explains your appeal rights (and what can happen if the Council does not comply with the decision).  Please read it carefully.

The Commissioner will publish the decision on her website in a week. 

Yours sincerely



Margaret Keyse
Head of Enforcement


Enc: Decision Notice 253/2014

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