Former Gartsherrie primary

Pete Simpson made this Freedom of Information request to North Lanarkshire Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, North Lanarkshire Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear North Lanarkshire Council,
I would like to make a request around information which the council's holds in respect of information of ownership of Gartsherrie Primary School.

In particular I would like to request any information/ document held which shows who gifted the school/ land, who this was gifted to and any stipulation which was attached to this.

Included within this request I would like information held by the council showing plans, photographs or information of the layout of the school

Yours faithfully,

Pete Simpson

Kirkpatrick Angelene, North Lanarkshire Council

Dear Mr Simpson

I acknowledge receipt of your request which is receiving attention.

I shall contact you again when I am in a position to respond more fully to your request.

Yours sincerely

Angelene Kirkpatrick
For Freedom of Information Co-ordinator
North Lanarkshire Council
Civic Centre
Windmillhill Street
Motherwell
ML1 1AB

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McKay Neil, North Lanarkshire Council

Dear Mr Simpson

 

Request for Information

 

I refer to your e-mail of 27 August 2018 seeking information in relation
to the ownership of the former Gartsherrie Primary School.

 

Having investigated I can advise that the information sought is publicly
available from the Registers of Scotland and Section 25 of the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 provides an absolute exemption for
information which is already accessible.  For ease of reference the
website address of the Registers of Scotland is as follows:-

 

[1]www.ros.gov.uk

 

I can advise that North Lanarkshire Council, having regard to the
provisions of Section 21 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act
2002, has established a procedure whereby any person who has requested
information and is in any way dissatisfied with the decision on that
request, can within forty working days require a review of that decision
by writing to the Head of Business for Legal and Democratic Solutions,
Civic Centre, Windmillhill Street, Motherwell ML1 1AB.  Accordingly, if
you are dissatisfied with this decision and seek such review please write
to the Head of Business for Legal and Democratic Solutions.

 

I would advise, also, that in terms of Section 47 of the Act a person who
is dissatisfied with a notice given by the local authority under Section
21 of the Act - ie. a notice following a review of a decision by a local
authority, or by the failure of a local authority to give such a notice -
may make application to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a
decision as to whether, in any respect specified in that application, the
request for information to which the requirement relates has been dealt
with in accordance with the Act.  Such an application must be made within
six months of the review decision and be in writing or in another form
which, by reason of it having some permanency is capable of being used for
subsequent reference. The application must state the name of the
applicant, and provide an address for correspondence. The application must
also specify the request for information to which the requirement for
review relates, the matter which gave rise to the applicant’s
dissatisfaction with the original decision of the local authority and the
matter which gives rise to the applicant’s dissatisfaction with the
decision on review by the local authority or the failure of the local
authority to issue such a decision.  The Scottish Information Commissioner
can be contacted as follows:-

 

Scottish Information Commissioner

Kinburn Castle

Doubledykes Road

St. Andrews

KY16  9DS

email: [email address]

 

Appeals to the Scottish Information Commissioner can also be made online
via the following link: -

 

www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal

 

I hope this information is sufficient for your purpose.  If, however, you
require further information – or I can assist in any other way – please
let me know.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Neil McKay

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator

Democratic and Legal Services

North Lanarkshire Council

Civic Centre

Windmillhill Street

Motherwell

ML1 1 AB

Tel : 01698 302 484

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Dear North Lanarkshire Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of North Lanarkshire Council's handling of my FOI request 'Former Gartsherrie primary'.

Within my initial request I did not solely ask for ownership details which you have kindly provided the link to. I also asked for information which the council holds in relation to additional documents which the council may hold around the building/ land being gifted. I need to clarify this is any information held by the council over and above which will be provided on land registry.

Within my request I also requested any additional information/ photographs the council's holds In relation to the layout/ pictures of the building.

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

Yours faithfully,

Pete Simpson

Keachie Jacqueline, North Lanarkshire Council

Dear Mr Simpson

I acknowledge receipt of your email below seeking a review of our response, dated 24 September 2018 to your Freedom of Information request.

Your request for review is being processed and a response will be sent to you in due course.

Regards.

Jacqueline Keachie
for Freedom of Information Co-ordinator
North Lanarkshire Council
Civic Centre
Motherwell
ML1 1AB
01698 302232

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Neilson Andrew, North Lanarkshire Council

Dear Mr Simpson,

 

I am emailing in respect of the above.

 

Our records indicate that there were two separate but similarly-named
schools in Coatbridge. The two schools are:

 

 1. Gartsherrie Primary School is a one storey building dating back to
1906 and was a key landmark in the days of Gartsherrie's iron and
steel industry period. The school closed in June 2010.  Address:
Gartsherrie Road, Coatbridge, ML5 2EU and;

 

 2. Gartsherrie Academy Primary School, 1872 (or older) - The school
closed in 1988. Address: Academy Street, Coatbridge, ML5 3AU

 

Can you please confirm which school you are looking for information on?

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Regards,

 

Andrew Neilson

Trainee Solicitor

Legal & Democratic Solutions

North Lanarkshire Council

Windmillhill Street

Motherwell

ML1 1AB

 

DX 571701 Motherwell 2

LP-3 Motherwell 2

 

T: 01698 302288

F: 01698 302211

M: 07951102831

E: [1][email address]

 

THIS EMAIL MAY CONTAIN PRIVILEGED LEGAL ADVICE AND SHOULD NOT BE FORWARDED
TO ANY THIRD PARTY WITHOUT THE EXPRESS CONSENT OF THE WRITER

 

***PLEASE NOTE***

My email address is changing.  If you currently send emails to me at
[2][email address] please update your records and send all
future emails to [3][email address].  My GCSX address will
shortly be deactivated.  Once that happens any emails sent to that address
will not be delivered.  Instead of using GCSX, we are now securing our
system in line with the following GOV.UK guidance in securing government
email:

 

[4]https://www.gov.uk/guidance/securing-gov...

 

*********************************************************************
North Lanarkshire Council's Web Site -
http://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/

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Dear Neilson Andrew,
I can confirm the school in question is the first one you have mentioned, Gartsherrie Primary,
Gartsherrie Road, Coatbridge, ML5 2EU

Yours sincerely,

Pete Simpson

Gardiner Gerard, North Lanarkshire Council

10 Attachments

Dear Mr Simpson,

 

Request for Information - Request for Review

Re.: Former Gartsherrie Primary School, Coatbridge

 

I refer to your email dated 26^th September 2018 requesting a review of
the Freedom of Information Co-ordinator’s response to your request for
information dated 27^th August 2018. This email constitutes the Council’s
response to that request for review.

 

On reflection, and having regard to the nature of your original request
for information (dated 27^th August 2018), it appears to me that your
original request for information should have been governed by the
provisions of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004,
rather than the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. It is in the
terms of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 that my
review of the response to your original request is made.  

 

In his response to your initial request, the Freedom of Information
Co-ordinator advised that the information sought is publically available
from the Registers of Scotland ([1]https://www.ros.gov.uk) and that
Section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 provides an
absolute exemption for information which is already accessible.

 

From consideration of your request for a review, it seems that you are
dissatisfied with the following:

 

1.      In your initial request for information, you did not solely ask
for information relating to the ownership of the former Gartsherrie
Primary; you also requested disclosure of information/documents showing
whether the school had been gifted, who it was gifted to and any
stipulation that was attached to any such gifting. In your request for
review, you stated that this is information held by the council over and
above that which will be provided on the Land Register. This information
was not disclosed with the initial response. 

 

2.      In your initial request you requested disclosure of information
showing plans, photographs and the layout of the school. This information
was not disclosed with the initial response.

 

I will address these concerns in turn:

 

1.      For the purposes of clarification, the property known as the
former Gartsherrie Primary School, Coatbridge was sold by the Council to
John G Russell (Transport) Ltd in June 2017. The property was not gifted
but was sold for a monetary consideration. Further information on the
price paid by John G Russell (Transport) Ltd can be found via the
Registers of Scotland ([2]https://www.ros.gov.uk).

 

As this information is publically available and easily accessible via the
Registers of Scotland, this ground of review is not upheld.

 

2.      Having investigated, I can advise that the Council does hold
information showing plans, photographs and the layout of the former
Gartsherrie Primary School. I therefore uphold this ground of review of
the council’s response. Please find attached to this email the following
documents:

 

a.      A floorplan of the former Gartsherrie Primary School - ‘Attachment
1’;

b.      A disposal plan for the former Gartsherrie Primary School -
‘Attachment 2’

c.      A PDF containing photographs of the former Gartsherrie Primary
School - ‘Attachment 3’;

d.      Another PDF containing photographs of the former Gartsherrie
Primary School - ‘Attachment 4’;

e.      Six further photographs showing the exterior elevations of the
former Gartsherrie Primary School;

 

 

I must advise you that in terms of Section 47 of the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2001 a person who is dissatisfied with a Notice
given by the Local Authority under Regulation 16 of the Environmental
Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 – i.e. a Notice following a review
of the decision by a local authority – may within 6 months, make an
application to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision as to
whether, in any respect specified in that application, the request for
information to which the requirement relates has been dealt with in
accordance with the Regulations. This email does constitute a Notice given
by North Lanarkshire Council under Regulation 16, and the Scottish
Information Commissioner can be contacted as follows:-

 

Scottish Information Commissioner

Kinburn Castle

Doubledykes Road

St Andrews

Fife

KY16 9DS

Email: [3][email address]

 

I must advise also that Section 56 of the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002 makes provision for an appeal, on point of law, to the
Court of Session against the decision made by the Scottish Information
Commissioner under sub-section 2 of Section 49 by the person who applied
for that decision – and against the decision by the Commissioner under
section 3(b) of that Section by the person who applied for that decision.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Gerard Gardiner

Legal Manager

Legal & Democratic Solutions

North Lanarkshire Council

Windmillhill Street

Motherwell

ML1 1AB

 

DX 571701 Motherwell 2

LP-3 Motherwell 2

 

T: 01698 302288

F: 01698 302211

M: 07951102831

E: [4][email address]

 

THIS EMAIL MAY CONTAIN PRIVILEGED LEGAL ADVICE AND SHOULD NOT BE FORWARDED
TO ANY THIRD PARTY WITHOUT THE EXPRESS CONSENT OF THE WRITER

 

***PLEASE NOTE***

My email address is changing.  If you currently send emails to me at
[5][email address] please update your records and send all
future emails to [6][email address].  My GCSX address will
shortly be deactivated.  Once that happens any emails sent to that address
will not be delivered.  Instead of using GCSX, we are now securing our
system in line with the following GOV.UK guidance in securing government
email:

 

[7]https://www.gov.uk/guidance/securing-gov...

 

*********************************************************************
North Lanarkshire Council's Web Site -
http://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/

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References

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1. https://www.ros.gov.uk/
2. https://www.ros.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. mailto:[email address]
6. mailto:[email address]
7. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/securing-gov...

Dear Mr Gardiner

Thank you for the further clarification, information and photographs as requested. I note your response around the sale of the property in 2017 but the request was looking for information the council holds as to ownership and if the school was gifted to the council from previous owners etc. It appears you have wrongly assumed I meant did the council gift the school but the request was looking for information who gifted the school to the council. I am happy to go through request to information commissioner but looking if this issue can be resolved as the council had wrongly assumed what my question was and didn't contact to clarify.

Yours sincerely,

Pete Simpson