Reports Musselburgh Racecourse

The request was refused by East Lothian Council.

Dear East Lothian Council,

I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act copies of the below reports which were presented in private to the Musselburgh Racing Associated Committee at its meeting in Haddington Town House on Tuesday, December 18, 2018.

1/ Commercial and Operations Report

2/General Manager's Report

3/ Finance - quarter 1-3 - review 2018/19

4/ Budget Report 2019/20

Yours faithfully,

Marie Sharp

Freedom Of Information, East Lothian Council

Thank you for your email.

This automated message is East Lothian Council’s acknowledgement that your information request has been received and is receiving attention. The statutory timescales for responses are as follows:

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

20 working days

Environmental Information Regulations 2004

20 working days

Internal Reviews

20 working days

Thank you

Freedom of Information Team
Licensing, Administration and Democratic Services
East Lothian Council
John Muir House
Haddington
EH41 3HA

Tel: 01620 827623
Email: [East Lothian Council request email]<mailto:[East Lothian Council request email]>

Information about East Lothian Council’s complaints procedure can be found here<https://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/info/2105...>.

Details of your rights to requesting information from East Lothian Council are published here<http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/info/704/d...>.

The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for the enforcement of Scotland's freedom of information laws. Guidance regarding your rights of access to information held by Scottish public authorities is available on the Commissioner’s website<http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/>.

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Freedom Of Information, East Lothian Council

1 Attachment

Our Ref:  2018/571291  

 

Dear Ms Sharp

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004

 

I am writing in response to your enquiry of 19 December.

 

On behalf of East Lothian Council I must inform you that we are unable to
comply with your request as the information you require is exmpt from
release into the public domain; please refer to the PDF attachment for
details of the exemption.

 

Under the terms of this legislation, if you are unhappy with the way your
request has been handled, you are entitled to request that we undertake an
internal review.  Please note, however, that both the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information
(Scotland) Regulations 2004 only relate to the release of information. 
The Scottish Information Commissioner publishes the following guidance
about internal reviews:

 

You can ask the authority to review its decision if it does not respond or
you are unhappy with the way it has dealt with your request, for example
by:

 

·                     refusing to give you the information

·                     failing to reply to you within the time limit
allowed

·                     claiming the information is exempt

·                     failing to give you advice about, and help with,
making your request

·                     asking you to pay a fee that you feel is
unreasonable

 

For example, if you are unhappy because you do not believe the information
you have received is accurate, an internal review would not apply.  Should
this be the case, however, please let me know and I will try to resolve
this.  If I am unable to help, I will be happy to put you in touch with
someone who can.

 

We must receive a request to review within 40 working days of the date of
this notice.  A request to review our decision must be in writing (e-mail
is acceptable) or another permanent format.  When writing, you should
include your reasons as to why you are unhappy with our response and why
you wish it to be reviewed.  Your reasons for dissatisfaction must relate
to your information request of 19 December only and should be addressed
to:

 

Information Governance Compliance Officer

Licensing, Administration and Democratic Services

East Lothian Council

John Muir House

Haddington

EH41 3HA

 

Email: [1][East Lothian Council request email]

 

We will have a maximum of 20 working days from the date we receive your
request in order to complete our review and give you our decision.  In
order to ensure an impartial approach, an independent senior officer will
be appointed to carry out the review.

 

If you are still not satisfied with our decision following the review
process, then you may ask the Office of the Scottish Information
Commissioner (OSIC) to investigate the matter.  You must appeal to
the Commissioner within six months of receiving the review decision.  You
may submit your appeal online via OSIC’s website, a link to the online
appeal service is provided for your convenience: 
[2]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...

 

Alternatively, you may contact OSIC at:

 

Scottish Information Commissioner

Kinburn Castle

Doubledykes Road

St Andrews

Fife

KY16 9DS

 

Telephone:  01334 464610

Fax:  01334 464611

E-mail:  [3][email address]

 

If you remain dissatisfied following the Commissioner’s decision, you may
be able to appeal to the Court of Session.   You should, however, obtain
legal advice before deciding on this course of action.  This is because an
appeal may only be made on a point of law, not because you disagree with
the Commissioner’s view of the case. 

 

Yours sincerely

 

Shelley Neville

Freedom of Information Team

Licensing, Administration and Democratic Services

East Lothian Council

John Muir House

Haddington

EH41 3HA

 

Tel: 01620 827623

Email: [4][East Lothian Council request email]

 

Information about East Lothian Council’s complaints procedure can be found
[5]here.

 

Details of your rights to requesting information from East Lothian Council
are published [6]here.

 

The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for the enforcement
of Scotland's freedom of information laws.  Guidance regarding your rights
of access to information held by Scottish public authorities is available
on the Commissioner’s [7]website.

 

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Dear East Lothian Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of East Lothian Council's handling of my FOI request 'Reports Musselburgh Racecourse'.

In your refusal to release the reports requested you have stated that this decision is taken under Section 26 of the Freedom of Information Act which you claim gives 'absolute exemption. This is not the case, section 26 is a qualified exemption, relates to defence, and therefore is subject to the public interest test.

I would also point out that you state in your refusal that "As per the Musselburgh Racing Associated Committee agenda, these matters were addressed in private as per paragraph 6 of Schedule
7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973..."

The agenda in question did not state the matters would be addressed in private, it stated that it was "anticipated the committee would resolve to exclude the public items from 5 to 10..."

Despite this no discussion was held publicly among committee members prior to the request for members of the public to leave.

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

Yours faithfully,

Marie Sharp

Freedom Of Information, East Lothian Council

Thank you for your email.

This automated message is East Lothian Council’s acknowledgement that your information request has been received and is receiving attention. The statutory timescales for responses are as follows:

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

20 working days

Environmental Information Regulations 2004

20 working days

Internal Reviews

20 working days

We will contact you again in due course.

Freedom of Information Team
Licensing, Administration and Democratic Services
East Lothian Council
John Muir House
Haddington
EH41 3HA

Tel: 01620 827623
Email: [East Lothian Council request email]<mailto:[East Lothian Council request email]>

Information about East Lothian Council’s complaints procedure can be found here<https://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/info/2105...>.

Details of your rights to requesting information from East Lothian Council are published here<http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/info/704/d...>.

The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for the enforcement of Scotland's freedom of information laws. Guidance regarding your rights of access to information held by Scottish public authorities is available on the Commissioner’s website<http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/>.

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Dear East Lothian Council,

In regards to my request for a review of your FOI decision not to release any information from the recent Musselburgh Racing Associated Committee reports heard in private, I would now like to remind you that you are in breach of the 20 days statutory response.

I would like to now also request an internal review into why you have been unable to respond within the statutory time allowed.

Yours faithfully,

Marie Sharp

Freedom Of Information, East Lothian Council

Thank you for your email.

This automated message is East Lothian Council’s acknowledgement that your information request has been received and is receiving attention. The statutory timescales for responses are as follows:

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

20 working days

Environmental Information Regulations 2004

20 working days

Internal Reviews

20 working days

We will contact you again in due course.

Freedom of Information Team
Licensing, Administration and Democratic Services
East Lothian Council
John Muir House
Haddington
EH41 3HA

Tel: 01620 827623
Email: [East Lothian Council request email]<mailto:[East Lothian Council request email]>

Information about East Lothian Council’s complaints procedure can be found here<https://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/info/2105...>.

Details of your rights to requesting information from East Lothian Council are published here<http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/info/704/d...>.

The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for the enforcement of Scotland's freedom of information laws. Guidance regarding your rights of access to information held by Scottish public authorities is available on the Commissioner’s website<http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/>.

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Freedom Of Information, East Lothian Council

Our Ref:  2018/571291

 

Dear Ms Sharp

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004

 

Thank you for your email of 20 February.

 

On behalf of East Lothian Council, I sincerely apologise for the delay in
carrying out the internal review of your information request of 19
December 2018.

 

Please be assured that your request is receiving attention from a
reviewing officer and their response will be sent to you just as soon as
possible.  If I can be of any assistance in the meantime, however, please
do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Shelley Neville

Freedom of Information Team

East Lothian Council

John Muir House

Haddington

EH41 3HA

 

Tel: 01620 827623

Email: [1][East Lothian Council request email]

 

Information about East Lothian Council’s complaints procedure can be found
[2]here.

 

Details of your rights to requesting information from East Lothian Council
are published [3]here.

 

The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for the enforcement
of Scotland's freedom of information laws.  Guidance regarding your rights
of access to information held by Scottish public authorities is available
on the Commissioner’s [4]website.

 

 

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Cruickshank, Alan, East Lothian Council

Our Ref: 2018/571291

 

Dear Ms Sharp,

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION REGULATIONS 2004

 

I am writing in response to your request for an internal review of
information request of 14^th of January 2019. I have been appointed to
carry out the review of your Freedom of Information request as I was not
involved with the original decision. I apologise for the delay in
responding to your request.

 

I have completed a review of your request and uphold the original
decision. The papers you requested were private papers and are covered by
paragraph 6 of Schedule 7A ACCESS TO INFORMATION: EXEMPT INFORMATION to
the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

 

Whilst the operation of Committees is out with the scope of my review my
understanding is that it is up to the Committee to resolve which agenda
items are held in private and if not formally stated at the meeting then
it is accepted that this resolution occurs when the Committee accepts the
papers as private by general consensus when the Chair states that they are
now in private session and the public are asked to leave.

 

In your email of 14^th January you also refer to Section 26 of the Freedom
of Information Act. This Act does not apply in Scotland. It is the Freedom
of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 that applies in Scotland and which does
not include this test.

 

If you are still not satisfied with our decision following the review
process, then you may ask the Office of the Scottish Information
Commissioner (OSIC) to investigate the matter. You must appeal to the
Commissioner within six months of receiving this notice. You may submit
your appeal online via OSIC’s website, a link to the online appeal service
is provided for your convenience:
[1]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...

 

Alternatively, you may contact OSIC at:

 

Scottish Information Commissioner

Kinburn Castle

Doubledykes Road

St Andrews

Fife

KY16 9DS

 

Telephone: 01334 464610

Fax: 01334 464611

E-mail: [2][email address]

 

If you remain dissatisfied following the Commissioner’s decision, you may
be able to appeal to the Court of Session. You should, however, obtain
legal advice before deciding on this course of action. This is because an
appeal may only be made on a point of law, not because you disagree with
the Commissioner’s view of the case.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Alan Cruickshank

Service Manager – IT

 

Tel: 01620 827827

Email: [email address]

 

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...
2. mailto:[email address]