Overseas trips

The request was partially successful.

Dear Angus Council,

This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act and relates to overseas trips.

From June 2016 to the day this request is processed, I would like to know the number of overseas trips councillors, members of the management team (including the chief executive), and council officers have taken in the course of conducting council business. For each overseas trip, please provide the following information:

- The date and duration of the overseas trip, as well as the country/city that was visited

- The full name, title and position of the councillor/member of management team/council officer who went on the overseas trip

- The reason or reasons why the councillor/member of management team/council officer went on the overseas trip

- The cost of the overseas trip (please provide a breakdown of travel costs, accommodation costs and expenses etc.)

- Please state whether the council met the costs of the overseas trip, or whether an individual, group, company, consortium, charity or another organisation met the costs.

- Please provide the full name of the individual, group, company, charity or organisation that met the costs. If it is a group or consortium, please state who or what composes the group or consortium.

I would like to receive the information electronically. If you feel that a substantive response to this request is not possible within a reasonable time frame, or the request is too broad or too vague, I would be grateful if you could contact me and provide assistance as to how I could refine the request. Many thanks.

Yours faithfully,

Jenna Corderoy

InformationGovernance, Angus Council

Dear Ms Corderoy

Thank you for your information request dated 27 July 2018 (received by Angus Council that same day).

If we are unable to provide you with a response within 20 working days, we will advise you of this in writing.

Please refer to the information below which explains your right to complain if you are unhappy with how the Council is dealing with your request.

If you have any queries, please ask for me on 01307 476234 or email [email address]

Yours sincerely
Brenda Angus

_______________________________________________________________________________
Brenda Angus | Clerical Officer | Place | Legal & Democratic | Angus Council | Angus House | Orchardbank Business Park | Forfar | DD8 1AN | Tel: 01307 476234 |DX 530678 FORFAR|Email: [email address] ; [email address]

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004
INSPIRE (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2009

Your Right to Request a Review by the Council

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which Angus Council has dealt with your request for information under any of the above statutory instruments, you have a right to ask the council to review its actions and/or decisions regarding your request. If you wish to do this, you should make your request to the Service Leader – Legal & Democratic, Place Directorate, Angus Council, Angus House, Orchardbank Business Park, Forfar DD8 1AN or e-mail [email address] within 40 working days.

Your request must:
• be in writing (or recordable format);
• give your name and address for correspondence;
• give details of the information which you originally requested from the council; and
• give the reasons why you are dissatisfied with the way in which your application for information has been dealt with.

Your application for review will then be considered by the council’s review panel. The review panel will write to you informing you of its decision not later than 20 working days after receipt of your request for a review. The review panel will also provide you with a statement of its reasons for arriving at the decision it has made.

Your Right to Appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner

If you are dissatisfied with a decision of the council's review panel (or where the review panel has not provided you with a response), you have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision as to whether your request for information has been dealt with by the council in accordance with the above statutory instruments.

Your application to the Scottish Information Commissioner must:
• be in a recordable format (letter, e-mail, audio tape etc);
• give your name and address for correspondence.
• give details of the request for information which you originally requested from the council;
• give details of why you were dissatisfied with the council’s response to your original request;
• give details of why you were dissatisfied with the decision of the council's review panel.

In the case of an EIR or FOI request your application to the Scottish Information Commissioner must be made within 6 months of receipt of the decision of the council’s review panel (or within 6 months of the date that the review panel should have responded). No such time limit applies under the 2009 Regulations.

Appeals to the Commissioner can be lodged online through the following hyperlink:
http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR... or by contacting:

Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9BS; Telephone - 01334 464610; Fax - 01334 464611; Email - [email address]

show quoted sections

FriedrichM,

6 Attachments

Dear Ms Corderoy

 

Request for Information

 

Thank you for your request for information dated 27 July 2018 (received by
the Council that same day) which has been passed to me for attention.  I
apologise for the delay in responding to your request.

 

You have requested the following information:

 

From June 2016 to the day this request is processed, I would like to know
the number of overseas trips councillors, members of the management team
(including the chief executive), and council officers have taken in the
course of conducting council business. For each overseas trip, please
provide the following information:

 

- The date and duration of the overseas trip, as well as th    e
country/city that was visited

 

- The full name, title and position of the councillor/member of management
team/council officer who went on the overseas trip

 

- The reason or reasons why the councillor/member of management
team/council officer went on the overseas trip

 

- The cost of the overseas trip (please provide a breakdown of travel
costs, accommodation costs and expenses etc.)

 

- Please state whether the council met the costs of the overseas trip, or
whether an individual, group, company, consortium, charity or another
organisation met the costs.

 

- Please provide the full name of the individual, group, company, charity
or organisation that met the costs. If it is a group or consortium, please
state who or what composes the group or consortium.

 

I would like to receive the information electronically.

 

I have estimated that it is likely to cost well in excess of £600 to
process your request, particularly in relation to the costs involved in
gathering this information in relation to foreign travel by staff while
accompanying pupils on trips or similar and all travel claims and requests
for sundry payments held in this regard would have to be manually searched
for the period covered by your request.  There are for example about 1300
teaching staff and more than 300 trips which hopefully will put this into
context for you. The Council does not have to provide you with the
information requested in terms of Section 12(1) of the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 where it would cost over £600 to do so. 

 

In the following I am providing you with information which we have
collated from various services and which covers other staff and I refer
you to the attached information in MS Excel format which we have not
previously provided to you (see the council’s previous response – 621/17
attached).

 

You will see that I had to withhold the names of officers below Chief
Officer level.  Their personal details are exempt from release under
Section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 as it
is personal information about another individual. The Council is unable to
release personal information about another individual where this would
breach the data protection principles as officers below Chief Officer
level have the legitimate interest and reasonable expectation that their
details are not made available to the public at large or published on the
internet.

 

I hope that this information is of some help to you. Please note that the
information contained in this reply is believed to be accurate as of
today's date (unless otherwise indicated) but no warranty is given.
Further, Angus Council does not accept liability for any loss, injury or
damage which arises from the use of the information contained in this
reply either by you or by any other party. Please refer to the information
set out below which explains your right to complain if you are unhappy
with how the Council has dealt with your request. If you have any queries,
please contact me on 01307 476246 or e-mail [1][email address]

 

Yours sincerely

 

Martin Friedrich

 

 

________________________________________________________

Martin Friedrich | Paralegal-FOI | Place Directorate – Legal &
Democratic| Angus Council |Angus House | Orchardbank Business Park |
Forfar | DD8 1AN | Tel: 01307 476246 |Email: [2][email address]

 

 

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004

INSPIRE (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2009

 

Your Right to Request a Review by the Council

 

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which Angus Council has dealt with
your request for information under any of the above statutory instruments,
you have a right to ask the council to review its actions and/or decisions
regarding your request. If you wish to do this, you should make your
request to the Service Leader - Legal & Democratic, Place Directorate,
Angus Council, Angus House, Orchardbank Business Park, Forfar DD8 1AN or
e-mail [3][email address] within 40 working days.

 

Your request must:

·         be in writing (or recordable format);

·         give your name and address for correspondence;

·         give details of the information which you originally requested
from the council;  and

·         give the reasons why you are dissatisfied with the way in which
your application for information has been dealt with.

 

Your application for review will then be considered by the council’s
review panel.  The review panel will write to you informing you of its
decision not later than 20 working days after receipt of your request for
a review. The review panel will also provide you with a statement of its
reasons for arriving at the decision it has made.

 

Your Right to Appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner

 

If you are dissatisfied with a decision of the council's review panel (or
where the review panel has not provided you with a response), you have the
right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision as
to whether your request for information has been dealt with by the council
in accordance with the above statutory instruments.

 

Your application to the Scottish Information Commissioner must:

o be in a recordable format (letter, e-mail, audio tape etc);

o give your name and address for correspondence.
o give details of the request for information which you originally
requested from the council;
o give details of why you were dissatisfied with the council’s response
to your original request;
o give details of why you were dissatisfied with the decision of the
council's review panel.

 

In the case of an EIR or FOI request your application to the Scottish
Information Commissioner must be made within 6 months of receipt of the
decision of the council’s review panel (or within 6 months of the date
that the review panel should have responded).  No such time limit applies
under the 2009 Regulations. 

 

Appeals to the Commissioner can be lodged online through the following
hyperlink:

[4]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...
or by contacting:

 

Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St
Andrews, Fife, KY16 9BS; Telephone - 01334 464610; Fax - 01334 464611;
Email - [5][email address])

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections