Library statistics 2021

Perth and Kinross Council did not have the information requested.

Dear Perth and Kinross Council,

FAO The Library Service.

Hello, I have two freedom of information (FOI) queries that should be quick. This is being sent to all UK library services so be assured you aren't being singled out! If the operating of the library service has been outsourced to a separate organisation then please fulfil this request by retrieving the response from that body.

1. Does the library service complete annual library statistics to be sent to CIPFA? And specifically, have these been completed for the financial year 2020/2021?

2. If the answer to the above is Yes, please include a copy of your 2020/2021 CIPFA library statistics return in your response. This should be sent in the same format as was sent to CIPFA (e.g. an Excel spreadsheet).

It is important that this should be an exact copy of the data sent to CIPFA. I am not requesting any data that is owned by CIPFA, such as their own aggregated reports. As the data is compiled by the library service it is public library data, and subject to Freedom of Information.

To try and cover any concerns about the second part of this request, I have answered a number of potential worries below. Please have a quick look through these before responding!

- Data Format. The data should be sent as structured data in spreadsheet format. Guidelines from the Information Commissioner's Office specify that it is reasonable to request data in a re-usable and "Machine-readable" formats. For example, if the data were exported to a PDF file then that would not be acceptable, as that is a document rather than structured data.

- FOI exemption: accessible by other means. Occasionally, requesters in the past have been told that this data could be exempt from FOI as it accessible from CIPFA when it is published. However this fails the test of being 'reasonably' accessible due to the high cost for a member of the public. This exemption would certainly be overturned on appeal.

- FOI exemption: commercial interest. Commercial interest exemptions do exist in FOI legislation but this would not apply to a single third party (e.g. CIPFA) who use public data. Their commercial interests are in the value they provide in reporting on that data.

Thank you in advance!

Yours faithfully,

Dave Rowe

FOI, Perth and Kinross Council

Thank you for your email.

 

If your email contained a request for information under the terms of the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, or the Environmental
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Information Governance Team

Perth and Kinross Council

 

 

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FOI, Perth and Kinross Council

Dear Mr Rowe

 

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Request for Information – Library Statistics

 

I refer to your request for information dated 15 September 2021.

 

The information you requested was:-

 

 1. Does the library service complete annual library statistics to be sent
to CIPFA? And specifically, have these been completed for the
financial year 2020/2021?

 

 2. If the answer to the above is Yes, please include a copy of your
2020/2021 CIPFA library statistics return in your response. This
should be sent in the same format as was sent to CIPFA (e.g. an Excel
spreadsheet).

 

It is important that this should be an exact copy of the data sent to
CIPFA. I am not requesting any data that is owned by CIPFA, such as their
own aggregated reports. As the data is compiled by the library service it
is public library data, and subject to Freedom of Information.

 

Response 

 

Relative to the above, I have been advised of the following:

 

Library services are nprovided under a management contract through Culture
Perth & Kinross who are a charitable trust with separate legal status from
Perth and Kinross Council.

 

The information you have requested is not held by Perth and Kinross
Council and would require to be provided by Culture Perth & Kinross.  In
terms of section 17(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act
2002, this is formal notice that this information is not held.

 

Please see below contact details for Culture Perth & Kinross;

Email: [1][email address]

 

More information can be found on their website here:
[2]https://www.culturepk.org.uk/contact/

 

You have a right to request a review of the Council’s decision. Click
[3]here to view a copy of our information leaflet which explains how to do
this. If you remain dissatisfied after the Council has carried out its
review, you can appeal [4]online to the Scottish Information Commissioner

 

Should you require any further explanation or assistance please do not
hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Officer

Information Compliance Team

Legal & Governance Services

Corporate and Democratic Services

2 High Street

Perth

PH1 5PH

 

 

The information in this email is solely for the intended recipients.

If you are not an intended recipient, you must not disclose, copy, or
distribute its contents or use them in any way: please advise the sender
immediately and delete this email.

Perth & Kinross Council does not warrant that this email or any
attachments are virus-free and does not accept any liability for any loss
or damage resulting from any virus infection. Perth & Kinross Council may
monitor or examine any emails received by its email system.

The information contained in this email may not be the views of Perth &
Kinross Council. It is possible for email to be falsified and the sender
cannot be held responsible for the integrity of the information contained
in it.

General enquiries to Perth & Kinross Council should be made to
[email address] or 01738 475000.

References

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1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.culturepk.org.uk/contact/
3. http://www.pkc.gov.uk/media/12752/Review...
4. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...