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Dear Sir

FOI/15365: Lawyers Fees and Expenses

Thank you for your request for information. In answer to your enquiry, I
can provide the following response on behalf of East Dunbartonshire
Council.

Question 1

I wish to make a Freedom of Information request for information on fees and
other expenses paid to:

1 - Law firms and solicitors (and which law firms/solicitors). Can you
specify what advice the fee was in relation to please. eg - childcare,
housing, roads.

The period I'm seeking the information for is June 2017 to the date of this
FOI request

Answer 1

East Dunbartonshire Council does not keep the information requested in a
collated form and in order to provide the information a manual search of
our records would be required. The costs of obtaining this information
would incur fees that would exceed the upper cost limit of £600 as set out
in the Fees regulations of Annex 3 of the Code of Practice on the Discharge
of Functions by Public Authorities under the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002 and we are therefore unable to release the information.

The cost was calculated as follows:

Staff time: £15 x 60 hours (minimum) = £900 (minimum)

In addition, I regret to advise that the information requested is
considered to be commercially sensitive and therefore exempt from release
under Section 33 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
'commercial interests and the economy.' Specifically, Section 33(1)(b)
which exempts from release information where the disclosure would, or is
likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person.

The information requested is a breakdown of fees paid to solicitor firms
for the type of work carried out. It is the Council's view that there is a
commercial interest to both the Council and the solicitor firms regarding
the information you have requested. Due to the nature of the Freedom of
Information regime the Council cannot release information to certain
individuals but rather any information provided has to be considered to
have been released to the wider public. It is the Council?s view that the
release of the information sought by you would compromise the commercial
interests of a third party supplier and in doing so would also cause harm
to the Council. The release of information relating to fee arrangements for
legal work would have a detrimental impact on the Council's relationship
with an external legal adviser and may potentially compromise future
relationships with alternative external legal advisers. The potential for
harm is exacerbated by the fact that the information sought by you would
include information relating to on going legal matters.

In applying the Section 33 exemption the Council is obliged to consider
where the public interest lies over the release of the information. It is
the Council's view that the public interest is best served by the Council
being able to obtain best value for money for any Service paid for from the
public purse.

Question 2

I wish to make a Freedom of Information request for information on fees and
other expenses paid to:

2 - the Scottish Courts Service or Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.
Can you specify what the fee was for please.

The period I'm seeking the information for is June 2017 to the date of this
FOI request

Answer 2

East Dunbartonshire Council does not keep the information requested in a
collated form and in order to provide the information a manual search of
our records would be required. The costs of obtaining this information
would incur fees that would exceed the upper cost limit of £600 as set out
in the Fees regulations of Annex 3 of the Code of Practice on the Discharge
of Functions by Public Authorities under the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002 and we are therefore unable to release the information.

The cost was calculated as follows:

Staff time: £15 x 60 hours (minimum) = £900 (minimum)

The Council would be willing to release a global figure of fees paid to the
Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service by Legal Services during the time
period requested as the costs of collating this information would not
exceed the upper cost limit. Please advise if you wish for this information
to be provided.

Should you have any questions on the content of the response and would like
the Local Authority to clarify or explain, please do feel free to get in
contact, citing the enquiry reference number above.

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which East Dunbartonshire Council
responded to your request, you are entitled to require the Council to
review its decision. The review will be handled by staff who were not
involved in the original decision. Please note that in order for a review
to take place you must:
· Lodge a written requirement for a review within 40 working days of
the date of this letter
· Include a correspondence address and a description of the original
request and the reason why you are dissatisfied.
· Address your request to the Freedom of Information team :

[East Dunbartonshire Council request email]

The review will be handled by staff who were not involved in the original
decision. You will receive notice of the results of the review within 20
working days of receipt of your request. The notice will state the
findings of the review as well as details of how to appeal to the Scottish
Information Commissioner if you are still dissatisfied with the Council?s
response. You must request an internal review by the Council before a
complaint can be directed to the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Regards

Caroline Magowan
Team Leader (Acting) (Litigation and Licensing)
Education, People and Business Directorate
East Dunbartonshire Council

Email -
[East Dunbartonshire Council request email]

From: Billy Briggs <[FOI #858137 email]>
To: FOI requests at East Dunbartonshire Council
<[East Dunbartonshire Council request email]>
Date: 29/04/2022 16:15
Subject: Freedom of Information request - FOI Request for Lawyers Fees
and Expenses

Dear East Dunbartonshire Council,

I wish to make a Freedom of Information request for information on fees and
other expenses paid to:

1 - Law firms and solicitors (and which law firms/solicitors). Can you
specify what advice the fee was in relation to please. eg - childcare,
housing, roads.

2 - the Scottish Courts Service or Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.
Can you specify what the fee was for please.

The period I'm seeking the information for is June 2017 to the date of this
FOI request

Yours faithfully,

Billy Briggs

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