Open Data provision

The request was successful.

Dear Aberdeen City Council,

I understand that a project review is to take place of Aberdeen City Council's participation in the national programme led by Scottish Cities Alliance to improve (in this case) the provision of open data for the city of Aberdeen. This programme is sometimes referred to as The Data Cluster.

Can you please tell me:

a) the date, format, and criteria to be used in that review
b) the job titles, and previous experience in working with Open Data, of those who are to carry out the review, and
c) if the review is already concluded at the time of processing of this FOI request, the outcome of the review

Please also send me:

1) A copy of the Project initiation Document for Aberdeen for this project,
2) Copies of each of the Work package descriptors for Aberdeen's participation in the project

Yours faithfully,

Ian Watt
Trustee
ODI Aberdeen (a node of the Open Data Institute)

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Watt

 

Information enquiry reference FOI-17-1176.

 

Thank you for your recent request for information, which we received on 14
August 2017.   

 

The scheduled date for our response to your request for information is on
or before 11 September 2017.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any queries in the
meantime.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Gail Halfyard

 

 

Information Compliance Team
Customer Service
Corporate Governance
Aberdeen City Council
3rd Floor North

Business Hub 17
Marischal College
Broad Street
ABERDEEN AB10 1AQ

[1][Aberdeen City Council request email]

Tel 03000 200 292

 

*03000 numbers are free to call if you have ‘free minutes’ included in
your mobile call plan.

Calls from BT landlines will be charged at the local call rate of 10.24p
per minute (the same as 01224s).

[2]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is
confidential, protected by copyright and may be privileged. The
information contained in it should be used for its intended purposes only.
If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email,
delete the received email and do not make use of, disclose or copy it.
Whilst we take reasonable precautions to ensure that our emails are free
from viruses, we cannot be responsible for any viruses transmitted with
this email and recommend that you subject any incoming email to your own
virus checking procedures. Unless related to Council business, the
opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and they do not
necessarily constitute those of Aberdeen City Council. Unless we expressly
say otherwise in this email or its attachments, neither this email nor its
attachments create, form part of or vary any contractual or unilateral
obligation. Aberdeen City Council's incoming and outgoing email is subject
to regular monitoring.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Aberdeen City Council request email]
2. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Watt,

 

Thank you for your information request of 14 August 2017.  Aberdeen City
Council (ACC) has completed the necessary search for the information
requested.

 

I understand that a project review is to take place of Aberdeen City
Council's participation in the national programme led by Scottish Cities
Alliance to improve (in this case) the provision of open data for the city
of Aberdeen.  This programme is sometimes referred to as The Data Cluster.

 

Can you please tell me:

 

a) the date, format, and criteria to be used in that review

There is no specific Open Data project review, however, there has been
discussion around the future of the project within the context of the
wider Health-check of all IT related projects. On 23 August 2017, a
framework was approved by Full Council
([1]https://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/d...)
that sets out a new targeting operating model for Aberdeen City Council.
All ongoing projects and commitments are being examined to ensure that
resource is targeted at transformation projects that can deliver modern
delivery of services within a climate of reduced finances and increasing
demand.

 

ACC is unable to provide you with information on the date, format, and
criteria to be used in an Open Data review as it is not held by ACC.  In
order to comply with its obligations under the terms of Section 17 of the
FOISA, ACC hereby gives notice that this information is not held by it.

 

b) the job titles, and previous experience in working with Open Data, of
those who are to  carry out the review, and

As above, there is no specific Open Data project review. Aberdeen City
Council have a Digital Transformation Consultant who will be conducting a
Health-check on all IT related projects.

 

ACC is unable to provide you with information on the job titles, and
previous experience in working with Open Data, of those who are to  carry
out the review as it is not held by ACC.  In order to comply with its
obligations under the terms of Section 17 of the FOISA, ACC hereby gives
notice that this information is not held by it.

 

c) if the review is already concluded at the time of processing of this
FOI request, the outcome of the review

There is no specific Open Data review.

 

ACC is unable to provide you with information on the outcome of the review
as it is not held by ACC.  In order to comply with its obligations under
the terms of Section 17 of the FOISA, ACC hereby gives notice that this
information is not held by it.

 

Please also send me:

 

1) A copy of the Project initiation Document for Aberdeen for this
project,

Please see attached.

 

Please note that third party names and personal details, as well as the
names of ACC Officers who are below Head of Service level have been
redacted (blacked out) from the attached document. This is because ACC
considers that this information is exempt from disclosure. In order to
comply with its obligations under the terms of Section 16 of the FOISA,
ACC hereby gives notice that we are refusing your request under the terms
of Section 38(1)(b) in conjunction with 38(2)(a)(i) – Personal Information
- of the FOISA.

 

In making this decision ACC considered the following points:

 

ACC is of the opinion that Section 38(1)(b) applies to the information
specified above as the information in question is personal information
relating to living individual(s), of which the applicant is not the data
subject.

 

ACC is of the opinion that Section 38(2)(a)(i) applies, as we consider
that disclosure of this information would be a breach of the first Data
Protection Principle (that personal information must be processed fairly
and lawfully). The individual(s) have not consented to the disclosure of
their information, and ACC does not consider that they would expect ACC to
release this information about them into the public domain under the
FOISA.

 

2) Copies of each of the Work package descriptors for Aberdeen's
participation in the project

Aberdeen City Council’s participation in the project relates to Work
package descriptor 4. Please see attached.

 

Please note that for Descriptors 1-3, ACC is not the lead authority and so
cannot guarantee that we hold the most up-to-date version. We would advise
you contact the PMO for a copy of the most up-to-date version.

 

PMO Programme Manager

ERDF Strategic intervention: Scotland’s 8th City – the Smart City

Glasgow City Council

231 George Street

G1 1RX

[2][email address] │ 0141 287 8663 │ 07900 706 786

 

We hope this helps with your request.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Grant Webster

Information Compliance Officer

 

INFORMATION ABOUT THE HANDLING OF YOUR REQUEST

 

ACC handled your request for information in accordance with the provisions
of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Please refer to the
attached PDF for more information about your rights under FOISA.

 

 

Information Compliance Team

Customer Service

Corporate Governance
Aberdeen City Council
3rd Floor North

Business Hub 17
Marischal College
Broad Street
ABERDEEN AB10 1AQ

[3][Aberdeen City Council request email]

Tel 03000 200 292

 

*03000 numbers are free to call if you have ‘free minutes’ included in
your mobile call plan.

Calls from BT landlines will be charged at the local call rate of 10.24p
per minute (the same as 01224s).

[4]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is
confidential, protected by copyright and may be privileged. The
information contained in it should be used for its intended purposes only.
If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email,
delete the received email and do not make use of, disclose or copy it.
Whilst we take reasonable precautions to ensure that our emails are free
from viruses, we cannot be responsible for any viruses transmitted with
this email and recommend that you subject any incoming email to your own
virus checking procedures. Unless related to Council business, the
opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and they do not
necessarily constitute those of Aberdeen City Council. Unless we expressly
say otherwise in this email or its attachments, neither this email nor its
attachments create, form part of or vary any contractual or unilateral
obligation. Aberdeen City Council's incoming and outgoing email is subject
to regular monitoring.

References

Visible links
1. https://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/d...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[Aberdeen City Council request email]
4. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/

Dear Aberdeen City Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Aberdeen City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Open Data provision' specifically with regard to the lack of satisfactory response to (a) below.

The response below, strikes me as disingenuous at best and maybe even willfully obfuscatory, which is ironic given the subject matter is the Council's commitment or otherwise to Open Data .

=============================================
From ACC's response:

a) the date, format, and criteria to be used in that review

There is no specific Open Data project review, however, there has been
discussion around the future of the project within the context of the
wider Health-check of all IT related projects. On 23 August 2017, a
framework was approved by Full Council
([1]https://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/d...
that sets out a new targeting operating model for Aberdeen City Council.
All ongoing projects and commitments are being examined to ensure that
resource is targeted at transformation projects that can deliver modern
delivery of services within a climate of reduced finances and increasing
demand.

=========================================

If there " has been discussion around the future of the project" where are the notes of that? Who was involved in those discussions?

If "all ongoing projects and commitments are being examined" when was this one project examined? Ignoring the semantics of whether an examination is or is not a review, what was the nature of the examination? What was the outcome? Who conducted that examination?

If the project hasn't yet been examined (or reviewed) when will that take place, what will the nature of that be, and who will do that?

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/o...

Yours faithfully,

Ian Watt

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Watt,

 

Information enquiry reference FOI-17-1346.

 

Thank you for your recent request for information, which we received on 19
September 2017. 

 

As you have requested additional information that is out-with the scope of
your earlier request, we are treating this request as a new request.

 

We understand your request to be:

 

In relation to a Health Check on the Open Data Project:

 

What discussion has taken place around the future of the project? Please
provide me with any details of this discussion (if recorded). Who was
involved in those discussions (if recorded)?

 

Has the Open Data project been examined as part of the wider Health Check?

-          When did this occur?

-          What was the nature of this examination?

-          What was the outcome?

-          Who conducted that examination?

 

If the Open Data project has not yet been examined as part of the wider
Health Check, when will that take place (if recorded)?

-          What will the nature of this examination be (if recorded)?

-          Who will conduct that examination (if recorded)?

 

The scheduled date for our response to your request for information is on
or before 17 October 2017.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any queries in the
meantime.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Salomeh Kheyri Rad
Information Compliance Officer

Information Compliance Team
Customer Service
Corporate Governance
Aberdeen City Council
3rd Floor North

Business Hub 17
Marischal College
Broad Street
ABERDEEN AB10 1AQ

[1][Aberdeen City Council request email]

Tel 03000 200 292

 

*03000 numbers are free to call if you have ‘free minutes’ included in
your mobile call plan.

Calls from BT landlines will be charged at the local call rate of 10.24p
per minute (the same as 01224s).

 

[2]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is
confidential, protected by copyright and may be privileged. The
information contained in it should be used for its intended purposes only.
If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email,
delete the received email and do not make use of, disclose or copy it.
Whilst we take reasonable precautions to ensure that our emails are free
from viruses, we cannot be responsible for any viruses transmitted with
this email and recommend that you subject any incoming email to your own
virus checking procedures. Unless related to Council business, the
opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and they do not
necessarily constitute those of Aberdeen City Council. Unless we expressly
say otherwise in this email or its attachments, neither this email nor its
attachments create, form part of or vary any contractual or unilateral
obligation. Aberdeen City Council's incoming and outgoing email is subject
to regular monitoring.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Aberdeen City Council request email]
2. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Watt,

 

Information enquiry reference FOI-17-1347.

 

Thank you for your recent request for information, which we received on 19
September 2017. 

 

We understand your request to be:

 

Further to my earlier request (see 
[1][1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/o... ) please provide me
with 

 

a copy of all correspondence, meeting agendas, meeting minutes, notes  or
other records pertaining to Aberdeen CC's participation in the SCA's open
data project between officers employed in the Corporate Governance/OCE
Directorates who are still in ACC employment from 16th June 2017 to date.

 

The scheduled date for our response to your request for information is on
or before 17 October 2017.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any queries in the
meantime.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Salomeh Kheyri Rad
Information Compliance Officer

Information Compliance Team
Customer Service
Corporate Governance
Aberdeen City Council
3rd Floor North

Business Hub 17
Marischal College
Broad Street
ABERDEEN AB10 1AQ

[2][Aberdeen City Council request email]

Tel 03000 200 292

 

*03000 numbers are free to call if you have ‘free minutes’ included in
your mobile call plan.

Calls from BT landlines will be charged at the local call rate of 10.24p
per minute (the same as 01224s).

 

[3]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is
confidential, protected by copyright and may be privileged. The
information contained in it should be used for its intended purposes only.
If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email,
delete the received email and do not make use of, disclose or copy it.
Whilst we take reasonable precautions to ensure that our emails are free
from viruses, we cannot be responsible for any viruses transmitted with
this email and recommend that you subject any incoming email to your own
virus checking procedures. Unless related to Council business, the
opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and they do not
necessarily constitute those of Aberdeen City Council. Unless we expressly
say otherwise in this email or its attachments, neither this email nor its
attachments create, form part of or vary any contractual or unilateral
obligation. Aberdeen City Council's incoming and outgoing email is subject
to regular monitoring.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/o
2. mailto:[Aberdeen City Council request email]
3. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/

Dear Foi Enquiries,

Please note that in my message yesterday, I asked that a review be conducted into the non-disclosure of information which I had earlier sought.

I did not make a new request with a changed scope as you appear to suggest in one of your replies.

Can you confirm that this has been treated as a request for a review and confirm when that will be processed.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Watt

Dear Foi Enquiries,

With reference to my request for an FOI review, please note that contrary to the original response : "there is no specific Open Data project review.” I have now had it confirmed via Twitter that "the open data programme is currently under review." which directly contradicts your earlier response.

This is a link to the ACC Tweet: https://twitter.com/aberdeencc/status/91...

And here is a link to a screenshot of it, should ACC decide to delete the Tweet.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7fl1fgt3tyon15...

Please ensure that the contents of this email are sent with the other correspondence to the FOI Review panel.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Watt

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

Dear Mr Watt,

 

Thank you for your further emails. Please allow me to explain our
position.

 

In your original request you asked:

 

I understand that a project review is to take place of Aberdeen City
Council's participation in the national programme led by Scottish Cities
Alliance to improve (in this case) the provision of open data for the city
of Aberdeen.  This programme is sometimes referred to as The Data Cluster.
Can you please tell me:

 

a) the date, format, and criteria to be used in that review

b) the job titles, and previous experience in working with Open Data, of
those who are to  carry out the review, and

c) if the review is already concluded at the time of processing of this
FOI request, the outcome of the review

 

There is no project review being undertaken by Aberdeen City Council into
the Open Data Project. As there is no project review being undertaken by
Aberdeen City Council, there is no recorded information in relation to a
project review. This has been checked with the Information Manager and
confirmed by the Head of IT and Transformation as per our standard FOI
procedures.

 

To help explain this situation, we advised you that all projects are
currently being captured by a Health Check. This is not a review. A
project review is an assessment of the status of a project at a particular
point in time, for example at the end of a particular phase. A Health
Check is a learning opportunity, a quick glance at the status of a project
to determine how well the project is performing in terms of its
objectives, its accordance with procedure and company standards and to
validate the case for the business, especially in times of significant
change to that business, such as agreement to revise the entire structure
of a local authority.

 

In your follow-up email you asked:

 

If there " has been discussion around the future of the project" where are
the notes of that?  Who was involved in those discussions?

 

If "all ongoing projects and commitments are being examined" when was this
one project examined? What was the nature of the examination? What was the
outcome? Who conducted that examination?

 

If the project hasn't yet been examined when will that take place, what
will the nature of that be, and who will do that?

 

In an effort to help you receive the information you are interested in, we
decided to revise your request to fit with our current situation. The
request you made is now in relation to this Health Check and not a project
review being undertaken by Aberdeen City Council into the Open Data
Project. As such, it is a new request and must be treated as such.

 

If you would like us to undertake a review because you feel that there is
a project review being undertaken by Aberdeen City Council into the Open
Data Project, then we would be happy to do so but the criteria for the
review would be, ‘Is there any information held by Aberdeen City Council
regarding a project review into the Open Data Project?’.

 

However, if you would like to work with us to revise your request so that
it does relate to a recorded piece of work which we will be able to search
against, then we will also be happy to do that.

 

I’m happy to discuss this. Should you wish to contact me, my number is
01224 523827.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Grant Webster

Information Compliance Officer

 

Information Compliance Team

Customer Service

Corporate Governance
Aberdeen City Council
3rd Floor North

Business Hub 17
Marischal College
Broad Street
ABERDEEN AB10 1AQ

[1][Aberdeen City Council request email]

Tel 03000 200 292

 

*03000 numbers are free to call if you have ‘free minutes’ included in
your mobile call plan.

Calls from BT landlines will be charged at the local call rate of 10.24p
per minute (the same as 01224s).

[2]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is
confidential, protected by copyright and may be privileged. The
information contained in it should be used for its intended purposes only.
If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email,
delete the received email and do not make use of, disclose or copy it.
Whilst we take reasonable precautions to ensure that our emails are free
from viruses, we cannot be responsible for any viruses transmitted with
this email and recommend that you subject any incoming email to your own
virus checking procedures. Unless related to Council business, the
opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and they do not
necessarily constitute those of Aberdeen City Council. Unless we expressly
say otherwise in this email or its attachments, neither this email nor its
attachments create, form part of or vary any contractual or unilateral
obligation. Aberdeen City Council's incoming and outgoing email is subject
to regular monitoring.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Aberdeen City Council request email]
2. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/

Dear Foi Enquiries,

Thank you for Grant's recent reply. I am grateful to the FOI team, who I have always felt do a very good job, but who I feel are being put in a difficult position in this matter by Corporate Governance's management.

I asked ACC to arrange an FOI review panel on 20th Sept. This should have been done by now.

It is clear that that managers in ACC are being deliberately obstructive in this case by deciding on their own interpretation of "review". By choosing to place a certain narrow construction on that and another on 'health check' they are using this as a means to delay a response to my enquiry by claiming that the nature of my inquiry has changed.

Para 28 of this:
https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...
makes it clear that a requester should not need to guess a terminology (e.g. we call it a 'health check' this week, not a review) .

"They should not exclude material from the scope of an otherwise clear request because the requester has described the information in a different way or has failed to use the ‘correct’ terminology."

While checking on the dictionary definition of review, the management team could look at the definition of sophistry at the same time?

What I want by this FOI request has never varied since I raised it in mid-August - i.e. what is the process of examination that the Open Data project is being put through, who is doing that etc. So this is not a new request.

I would respectfully ask that the FOI Review panel be convened, to put an end to this charade, and provide me with the information that I requested some 8 weeks ago.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Watt

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Watt,

 

Thank you for your information request of 19 September.  Aberdeen City
Council (ACC) has completed the necessary search for the information
requested.

 

In relation to a Health Check on the Open Data Project:

 

What discussion has taken place around the future of the project? Please
provide me with any details of this discussion (if recorded). Who was
involved in those discussions (if recorded)?

We hold two pieces of recorded information which fall within the scope of
your request:

 

1. An Action note following a discussion around failure to progress with
the open data platform contract and spend. Please see attached a copy of
that Action note, FOI-17-1346 – Action Note.

 

Please note that third party names and personal details, as well as the
names of ACC Officers who are below Head of Service level have been
redacted (blacked out) from the attached document as it is exempt from
disclosure under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.  In order
to comply with its obligations under the terms of Section 16 of the FOISA,
ACC hereby gives notice that we are refusing your request under the terms
of Section 38(1)(b) in conjunction with 38(2)(a)(i) – Personal Information
- of the FOISA.

 

In making this decision ACC considered the following points:

 

ACC is of the opinion that Section 38(1)(b) applies to the information
specified above as any information held is personal information relating
to living individuals, of which the applicant is not the data subject.

 

ACC is of the opinion that Section 38(2)(a)(i) applies, as we consider
that disclosure of this information would be a breach of the first Data
Protection Principle (that personal information must be processed fairly
and lawfully). These individuals have not consented to the disclosure of
their information, and ACC does not consider that they would expect ACC to
release this information about them into the public domain under the
FOISA.

 

2. An email which constitutes legal advice.

 

We are unable to provide you with a copy of this email as we consider that
it is exempt from disclosure.

 

In order to comply with its obligations under the terms of Section 16 of
the FOISA, ACC hereby gives notice that we are refusing your request under
the terms of Section 36(1) - Information in respect of which a claim to
confidentiality of communications could be maintained in legal proceedings
– of the FOISA.

 

The information contained within the email is legal advice provided to ACC
by its legal adviser (a solicitor), and was provided in confidence. As
such, a claim to confidentiality of communications could be maintained in
legal proceedings.

 

The exemption claimed by ACC is a non-absolute exemption and where a
non-absolute exemption applies, ACC is required by Section 16(2) of FOISA,
to inform you as to why in all the circumstances of the case, the public
interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in
disclosing this information to you.

 

It is considered by ACC that release of this information may allow the
public to understand the background to any position ACC takes on this
project.

 

However, ACC believes that in this case the public interest lies in
withholding information where disclosure could prejudice the position of
ACC (and its legal adviser) in future negotiations.

 

As per our previous response (FOI-17-1176), all ongoing projects and
commitments are being examined to ensure that resource is targeted at
transformation projects that can deliver modern delivery of services
within a climate of reduced finances and increasing demand.

 

Aberdeen City Council has now begun implementation of the Transformation
Change and Portfolio framework that underpins an integral part of the
Target Operating Model. Full details of this, including the Digital
Strategy Programme update are [1]publicly available and provide a
breakdown of current prioritised activities and principles governing all
future programmes of work.

 

Has the Open Data project been examined as part of the wider Health Check?

 

- When did this occur?

- What was the nature of this examination?

- What was the outcome?

- Who conducted that examination?

No, not yet.

 

If the Open Data project has not yet been examined as part of the wider
Health Check, when will that take place (if recorded)?

 

- What will the nature of this examination be (if recorded)?

- Who will conduct that examination (if recorded)?

This has not been determined yet.

 

ACC is unable to provide you with information on If the Open Data project
has not yet been examined as part of the wider Health Check, when will
that take place? What will the nature of this examination be? Who will
conduct that examination? as it is not held by ACC.  In order to comply
with its obligations under the terms of Section 17 of the FOISA, ACC
hereby gives notice that this information is not held by it.

 

We hope this helps with your request.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Compliance Team

 

INFORMATION ABOUT THE HANDLING OF YOUR REQUEST

 

ACC handled your request for information in accordance with the provisions
of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Please refer to the
attached PDF for more information about your rights under FOISA.

 

 

Information Compliance Team

Customer Service

Corporate Governance
Aberdeen City Council
3rd Floor North

Business Hub 17
Marischal College
Broad Street
ABERDEEN AB10 1AQ

[2][Aberdeen City Council request email]

Tel 03000 200 292

 

*03000 numbers are free to call if you have ‘free minutes’ included in
your mobile call plan.

Calls from BT landlines will be charged at the local call rate of 10.24p
per minute (the same as 01224s).

[3]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is
confidential, protected by copyright and may be privileged. The
information contained in it should be used for its intended purposes only.
If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email,
delete the received email and do not make use of, disclose or copy it.
Whilst we take reasonable precautions to ensure that our emails are free
from viruses, we cannot be responsible for any viruses transmitted with
this email and recommend that you subject any incoming email to your own
virus checking procedures. Unless related to Council business, the
opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and they do not
necessarily constitute those of Aberdeen City Council. Unless we expressly
say otherwise in this email or its attachments, neither this email nor its
attachments create, form part of or vary any contractual or unilateral
obligation. Aberdeen City Council's incoming and outgoing email is subject
to regular monitoring.

References

Visible links
1. https://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/i...
2. mailto:[Aberdeen City Council request email]
3. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

Dear Mr Watt,

 

I refer to your email of 20 September 2017 requesting that Aberdeen City
Council (ACC) review its handling of your request on the basis of
Information Not Held.

 

A Review has been undertaken and a copy of the decision is below.

 

On 12 August 2017, you made the following request:

 

I understand that a project review is to take place of Aberdeen City
Council's participation in the national programme led by Scottish Cities
Alliance to improve (in this case) the provision of open data for the city
of Aberdeen.  This programme is sometimes referred to as The Data Cluster.

 

Can you please tell me:

a) the date, format, and criteria to be used in that review

b) the job titles, and previous experience in working with Open Data, of
those who are to  carry out the review, and

c) if the review is already concluded at the time of processing of this
FOI request, the outcome of the review

 

On 11 September 2017, ACC responded as below:

 

There is no specific Open Data project review, however, there has been
discussion around the future of the project within the context of the
wider Health-check of all IT related projects. On 23 August 2017, a
framework was approved by Full Council
([1]https://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/d...)
that sets out a new targeting operating model for Aberdeen City Council.
All ongoing projects and commitments are being examined to ensure that
resource is targeted at transformation projects that can deliver modern
delivery of services within a climate of reduced finances and increasing
demand.

 

ACC is unable to provide you with information on the date, format, and
criteria to be used in an Open Data review as it is not held by ACC.  In
order to comply with its obligations under the terms of Section 17 of the
FOISA, ACC hereby gives notice that this information is not held by it.

 

On 19 September 2017, you contacted us to request a review, advising:

 

If there " has been discussion around the future of the project" where are
the notes of that?  Who was involved in those discussions? If "all ongoing
projects and commitments are being examined" when was this one project
examined? Ignoring the semantics of whether an examination is or is not a
review, what was the nature of the examination? What was the outcome? Who
conducted that examination? If the project hasn't yet been examined (or
reviewed) when will that take place, what will the nature of that be, and
who will do that?

 

ACC considered that you were requesting additional information and the
scope of your original request had been amended. As such, ACC decided to
treat your request as a new request and not as a review. It was felt that
this would be beneficial to you as you would be more likely to receive the
actual information that you are interested in, including the additional
information now requested, sooner than if a review was undertaken. ACC
reserves the right to determine the most appropriate way to process
information requests. This new request has been processed as FOI-17-1346
and was issued to you on 17 October 2017.

 

In relation to whether there is any information held by Aberdeen City
Council regarding a project review into the Open Data Project, we have
checked with the Line Manager for the Open Data Project, and confirmed
with the Head of IT and Transformation that there is no information held
in relation to a project review. We identified these officers as being the
most appropriate people to contact and the most likely to know whether any
information was held in relation to a project review into the Open Data
Project. As such, ACC upholds its original response.

 

If you have any queries regarding the above, please do not hesitate to
contact me.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Grant Webster

On behalf of Review Panel Clerk

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

 

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your request for an internal
review, you can apply directly to the Office of the Scottish Information
Commissioner (OSIC) for a decision. Generally, OSIC cannot make a decision
unless you have been through the ACC’s review procedure. To make an
application to OSIC, please write or email OSIC at:

 

The Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner

Kinburn Castle

Doubledykes Road

St Andrews

FIFE

KY16 9DS

[2]www.itspublicknowledge.info 

 

An application to OSIC must be made in writing within six months of
receipt of ACC’s Review Decision Notice.  When applying to OSIC for a
decision you should give your name and address for correspondence.  Please
note that OSIC will not be able to investigate if you have not used your
real name to make your information request. You must also specify:

 

● Which request for information your requirement for review relates to

● The reason that you asked ACC to carry out a review of your request

● The reason why you are not satisfied with ACC's review outcome decision

 

The Commissioner will contact ACC and invite its comments on your
application.  Thereafter (if no settlement has meantime been reached), the
Commissioner must reach a decision within 4 months of receiving your
application, or within such other period as is reasonable.  You will
receive written notice of the outcome of the Commissioner’s decision.

 

Should you wish to appeal against the Scottish Information Commissioner's
decision, there is an appeal to the Court of Session on a point of law
only. Any such appeal must be made within 42 days after the date of the
decision has been issued.

 

 

Information Compliance Team

Customer Service

Corporate Governance
Aberdeen City Council
3rd Floor North

Business Hub 17
Marischal College
Broad Street
ABERDEEN AB10 1AQ

[3][Aberdeen City Council request email]

Tel 03000 200 292

 

*03000 numbers are free to call if you have ‘free minutes’ included in
your mobile call plan.

Calls from BT landlines will be charged at the local call rate of 10.24p
per minute (the same as 01224s).

[4]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is
confidential, protected by copyright and may be privileged. The
information contained in it should be used for its intended purposes only.
If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email,
delete the received email and do not make use of, disclose or copy it.
Whilst we take reasonable precautions to ensure that our emails are free
from viruses, we cannot be responsible for any viruses transmitted with
this email and recommend that you subject any incoming email to your own
virus checking procedures. Unless related to Council business, the
opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and they do not
necessarily constitute those of Aberdeen City Council. Unless we expressly
say otherwise in this email or its attachments, neither this email nor its
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obligation. Aberdeen City Council's incoming and outgoing email is subject
to regular monitoring.

References

Visible links
1. https://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/d...
2. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/
3. mailto:[Aberdeen City Council request email]
4. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Watt,

 

Thank you for your information request of 14 August 2017 and subsequent
review request and appeal submission.  Aberdeen City Council (ACC) has
completed the necessary search for the information requested.

 

Notes of discussions around the future of the project

Please see attached the following:

 

A copy of an Action note following a discussion around failure to progress
with the open data platform contract and spend, APP-17-1176 – Action Note,
as provided in response to your information request.

 

During the review investigation following the outcome of the appeal, we
found an additional piece of information. Please see attached and please
accept our apologies that this was not provided at the time of your
request, APP-17-1176 – RE ACTIONS – Open Data Project.

 

Please note that third party names and personal details, as well as the
names of ACC Officers who are below Head of Service level have been
redacted (blacked out) from the attached document as it is exempt from
disclosure under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.  In order
to comply with its obligations under the terms of Section 16 of the FOISA,
ACC hereby gives notice that we are refusing your request under the terms
of Section 38(1)(b) in conjunction with 38(2)(a)(i) – Personal Information
- of the FOISA.

 

In making this decision ACC considered the following points:

 

ACC is of the opinion that Section 38(1)(b) applies to the information
specified above as any information held is personal information relating
to living individuals, of which the applicant is not the data subject.

 

ACC is of the opinion that Section 38(2)(a)(i) applies, as we consider
that disclosure of this information would be a breach of the first Data
Protection Principle (that personal information must be processed fairly
and lawfully). These individuals have not consented to the disclosure of
their information, and ACC does not consider that they would expect ACC to
release this information about them into the public domain under the
FOISA.

 

As such, ACC overturns its original decision.

 

We hope this helps with your request

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Grant Webster

Information Compliance Officer

 

Information Compliance Team | Customer Service | Corporate Governance
Aberdeen City Council, Business Hub 17, 3^rd Floor North, Marischal
College, Broad Street, Aberdeen, AB10 1AQ
Tel 03000 200 292
Email [1][Aberdeen City Council request email]

[2]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

*03000 numbers are free to call if you have ‘free minutes’ included in
your mobile call plan.

Calls from BT landlines will be charged at the local call rate of 10.24p
per minute (the same as 01224s).

[3]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is
confidential, protected by copyright and may be privileged. The
information contained in it should be used for its intended purposes only.
If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email,
delete the received email and do not make use of, disclose or copy it.
Whilst we take reasonable precautions to ensure that our emails are free
from viruses, we cannot be responsible for any viruses transmitted with
this email and recommend that you subject any incoming email to your own
virus checking procedures. Unless related to Council business, the
opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and they do not
necessarily constitute those of Aberdeen City Council. Unless we expressly
say otherwise in this email or its attachments, neither this email nor its
attachments create, form part of or vary any contractual or unilateral
obligation. Aberdeen City Council's incoming and outgoing email is subject
to regular monitoring.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Aberdeen City Council request email]
2. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/
3. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/