Dear Ms Helland

Request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Thank you for your email received on 4 March 2010 requesting that the following information be provided to you:

“Please provide a copy of the official letter of resignation from

Steven Purcell.”

The Council is treating your request as a request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Steven Purcell, former leader of Glasgow City Council and councillor for Ward 14 (Drumchapel/Anniesland) stood down as leader of the council on 2 March 2010 and resigned as a councillor on 5 March 2010.

The Council has subsequently received a large number of requests under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 seeking information relating to Mr Purcell's resignation. A number of these requests ask for the same, or very similar, information. In the interests of complying with our statutory duty to advise and assist applicants, and in order to put this information into the public domain as efficiently as possible, the Council has grouped the relevant requests for information into related strands. If you have asked for information in a given strand, the response below include all the information we have identified within that strand (apart from information we are withholding for some reason), even if the specific wording of your request might not quite have asked for the specific items in question.

In the interests of openness and transparency, the Council invited the Scottish Information Commissioner to assist with the search for information held by the Council which is covered by these requests. The Commissioner has unfortunately had to decline this invitation, because he must be able to reach an impartial view on the Council's handling of these requests if any of the applicants are unhappy with the response provided and remain unhappy after requesting an internal review by the Council. The Council has also had discussions with the (UK) Information Commissioner's Office regarding some of the requests where there is a significant data protection dimension to the information requested. These discussions have unfortunately delayed the Council's response.

The Council's Internal Audit section were asked to assist in the location and retrieval of relevant information, again in the interests of openness and transparency. Please note that due to the delay mentioned above, the Internal Audit checks have not yet been completed. We do not know if there is anything else to be found, but as our searches continue please be assured that we will proactively notify you of any additional information which comes to light.

Turning to the information you have requested:

The resignation letter received reads as follows, in full:

“5 March 2010

Dear George,

After much consideration it is clear to me the correct thing to do is to resign as a Councillor with immediate effect.

I need to concentrate on my health and getting better and I need peace and quiet to do this.

Yours sincerely

[signed] Steven Purcell

Steven Purcell

c/o Levy and Macrae

Glasgow”

The letter was received under cover of a letter from Messrs Levy & McRae, Solicitors, also dated 5 March, addressed to George Black, Chief Executive of the Council.

Following the opinion of the Court of Session in Glasgow City Council v Scottish Information Commissioner I should highlight that the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) provides a right of access to information and not a right of access to copies of specific documents. In accordance with the `Guidance on validity of FOI requests' issued by the Scottish Information Commissioner's Office I have not automatically refused your request for review as it is reasonably clear from your request that it is the information recorded in the documents that you seek

The Council accordingly feels that it has complied in full with your request. However, if you feel that this is not the case please contact the Customer Care Team at the number above.

Please note that the information provided in response to your request is, unless otherwise indicated, copyright © Glasgow City Council 2010. It is supplied to you in terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Any further use by you of this information must comply with the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as amended and/or the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997. In particular, any commercial use or re-use of the information provided requires the prior written consent of the Council.

Requests for such consent should be addressed to:

Head of PR & Marketing

Glasgow City Council

City Chambers

George Square

Glasgow

G2 1DU

Some or all of the information may be subject to third party copyright, in which case the permission of the third party copyright holder may be required. No claim is made in respect of third party copyright.

Please note that the information provided contains names and/or addresses. This information was provided to the Council in connection with particular statutory functions of the Council's and on the basis that it would only be used in connection with those purposes. Any use of this information for a different purpose may therefore contravene the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Yours sincerely

Dr Kenneth Meechan

Head of Information Governance

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