Archival services rationalisation

Mr Wyllie made this Freedom of Information request to Scottish Government

The request was partially successful.

From: Mr Wyllie

30 December 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002.

In response to Parliamentary Question S3W-19938, which was answered
on 2nd Feburary 2009, the Minister said that:

"The First Minister announced the examination of the scope to
rationalise historic archival, recording and scheduling functions
and for streamlining the activities of the Royal Commission on the
Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Historic Scotland and
the National Archives of Scotland in January 2008. Consideration is
on-going with the three organisations involved, all of which have
regular contact with core government officials and the minister."

Please provide information about contact held between these three
organisations and the Scottish Government since 1st January 2008
about these plans for rationalisation and streamlining, and
discussions held in the Scottish Government about these plans.

This should include, among other items, copies of minutes,
memoranda, and correspondence between the respective institutions
and the Government.

I would be grateful if such information were provided in an
electronic format.

I look forward very much to your response.

Thank you very much for your help.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Wyllie

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Scottish Government

11 January 2010

Dear Mr Wyllie:

I am writing regarding your request for information which was received by
the Scottish Government on 30 December 2009.

In that request you asked us for information about contact and discussions
held between the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments
of Scotland, Historic Scotland, the National Archives of Scotland and the
Scottish Government since1st January 2008 about the plans for
rationalising and streamlining the activities of the first three bodies,
as referred to in the answer to Scottish Parliamentary Question S3W-19938.
This should include among other items, copies of minutes, memoranda, and
correspondence between the respective institutions and the Government.

I am afraid that it is not reasonably clear to us what particular
information you are seeking and so your request to us is invalid. In
relation to the first element, namely discussions between the respective
organisations and the Scottish Government, I should be grateful if you
would confirm whether you are looking only for the dates of any meetings
held, or for other specific information. Also in terms of any discussions
held internally, are you looking only for the dates of any such meetings
or for other specific information? I would add that the part of your
request asking for copies of minutes, memorandum etc is also invalid. As
you may be aware, the recent Court of Session judgement - Glasgow City
Council and Dundee City Council v Scottish Information Commissioner [2009]
CSIH 73 (issued on 30 September 2009) - clarified that the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) gives a right to information, not
documents, and that information requests must identify precisely the
information sought. A request is not valid if it does not, in accordance
with section 8(1)(c) of FOISA, describe the information requested. As
such that part of your request for copies of minutes, memoranda and
correspondence cannot be considered. .

I would be happy to assist you to frame a valid request. Please do not
hesitate to contact me if you need help in rephrasing your request to
clearly describe the specific information that you seek, rather than the
documents you refer to. I would, for example, be able to provide the
dates of meetings held by Ministers or officials with 1 or more of the 3
bodies. I would also be able to provide you with information regarding
correspondence between The Scottish Government and the 3 bodies concerning
the rationalisation or streamlining of the activities of the bodies.

I hope this response is of some help to you.

Jim Mitchell
Senior Architect
Architecture and Place Division
Directorate for the Built Environment
The Scottish Government
(0131 244 7476)

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Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

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From: Mr Wyllie

12 January 2010

Dear Mr Mitchell,

Request for Information

Thank you for your letter in response to my request for
information, which I have considered.

You ask firstly what is meant by my request about contact between
the Scottish Government and the bodies to which I refer. The
specific information to which I refer in that case is the
information contained in any minutes of meetings between Ministers
or officials of the Scottish Government and any one of the three
bodies to which I refer.

In relation to my second request (concerning correspondence) I
would like to request the information that was contained in any
such correspondence.

You are quite correct about the impact of the recent Court of
Session judgment. However, I wish to place on record my preference
under section 11(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act
2002 for a copy of the information in electronic form.

This is because I consider this the easiest and most efficient of
the options available to you under section 11 of the Act of
providing the information to me, particularly because the use of
the internet site will publish the information, meaning the
information need not be copied again and thus the information could
be subject to the "Information otherwise accessible" exemption
under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

I would remind you that under sections 14(3)(d) and 15(7)(c) of the
Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000, the
Accounting Officer(s) has an obligation to ensure efficient use of
public funds.

Consequently, should you wish to provide the information in another
format, I would be grateful if you would provide an explanation
when doing so.

I hope very much that this has suitably clarified the position, and
look forward very much to your response.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Wyllie

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Scottish Government

29 January 2010

Attachment Mr Wyllie FoI reply 290110.doc
452K Download View as HTML

Mr Wyllie:

Please see attached

<<Mr Wyllie FoI - reply - 290110.doc>>

Jim Mitchell
Architecture and Place Division
Directorate for the Built Environment
The Scottish Government
(0131 244 7476)

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Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

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From: Mr Wyllie

29 January 2010

Dear Mr Mitchell,

Request for information
Your ref: FoI/10/00022

Many thanks for your email, which I received today.

Thank you also for keeping me informed - it is a kindness that is
much appreciated and I am content to wait for a comprehensive
response.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Wyllie

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Scottish Government

4 February 2010

Dear Mr Wyllie:

I am sorry, but the process of finalising the issue of the information
you have requested is taking a little longer than I anticipated last
Friday. I now hope to be able to issue a comprehensive response by the
end of this week.

Please accept my apologies for this delay.

Jim Mitchell
Architecture and Place Division
Directorate for the Built Environment
The Scottish Government
(0131 244 7476)

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Scottish Government

5 February 2010

Mr Wyllie:

I have just sent you the final response by email to your request. The
attachment is quite a large file (35 pages), and it is possible that it
is too large for your in-box. Could you therefore please confirm that
you have received the information or that I need to break it into more
than one file.

Thanks

Jim Mitchell
Architecture and Place Division
Directorate for the Built Environment
The Scottish Government
(0131 244 7476)

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Scottish Government

5 February 2010

Attachment foi 1.pdf
1.3M Download View as HTML

Mr Wyllie:

As I have had no response from your computer, I am sending you the final
response to your request split into 2 files. by email . Could you
therefore please confirm that you have received the information or that
I need to break it into more than one file.

Thanks

Jim Mitchell
Architecture and Place Division
Directorate for the Built Environment
The Scottish Government
(0131 244 7476)

show quoted sections

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Scottish Government

5 February 2010

Attachment foi 2.pdf
1.2M Download View as HTML

Mr Wyllie:

As I have had no response from your computer, I am sending you the final
response to your request split into 2 files. by email . Could you
therefore please confirm that you have received the information or that
I need to break it into more than one file.

This is the second file

Thanks

Jim Mitchell
Architecture and Place Division
Directorate for the Built Environment
The Scottish Government
(0131 244 7476)

show quoted sections

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From: Mr Wyllie

5 February 2010

Dear Mr Mitchell,

Sorry for the delay - I haven't been able to get to a computer up
to now.

Thanks for the information - it has been received safely. It
doesn't seem to have come through in the bigger attachment you
sent. I will let you know if there's any problems.

Many thanks for your help. It is much appreciated.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Wyllie

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Scottish Government

5 February 2010

Attachment foi1000022.pdf
2.4M Download View as HTML

Mr Wyllie:

Please see attached final response to your request:

Jim

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Things to do with this request

Anyone:
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