Stonewall funding. FOI of 26 January, 2018: 18-00320, Response is Incorrect.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Scottish Government,

With reference to this FOI of 26 January, 2018:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-18...
re. Stonewall.

A.
This FOI response is incorrect. Please name the person responsible, their superior, and their department.
I believe the Scottish Government owes the recipient an apology, and the recipient and the public a retraction and correction.
The Scottish Government must be held to account for publishing false and misleading information.
To whom and where should this issue be raised?

1)
“Please be advised that the Scottish Government does not fund Stonewall, but has provided funding to Stonewall Scotland, and that it is this organisation that the information below refers.”

Stonewall Scotland is not a separate organisation, company, entity, or charity but a part of STONEWALL EQUALITY LIMITED previously THE STONEWALL LOBBY GROUP, 02412299, Incorporated on 9 August 1989, 192 St. John Street, London, England, EC1V 4JY.

All payments made to Stonewall by the Scottish Government are paid into the same account, the account of Stonewall Equality Limited. The Scottish Government funds Stonewall.

2)
“In 2014-15, this funding was to support the Good Practice Programme which provided practical and targeted support to public bodies in Scotland, helping them to fulfil their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 in terms of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Gender Identity is not and never has been a protected characteristic under EA (2010) the protected characteristic is gender reassignment.

B.
“Funding in 2015-16 was for a project to facilitate better LGBT inclusion in public life focused on three key areas: access to health and social care services, reporting hate crime, and post-16 education and training.”

1)
Please provide documentation clarifying this funding for “reporting hate crime”, specifically what laws were specified and definitions, the reasoning associating hate crime with ‘inclusion in public life’, specifics on how it was to be spent etc. and the monitoring and analysis of the effectiveness of this expenditure of approx. £33K +/- of public monies.

2)
Which other organisations were funded in Scotland in 2015/2016 to encourage the reporting of hate crime? And, please a report of all organisations, amounts by year from 2010 to date funded for/or related to ‘reporting hate crime’.

Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
D. Cooke

Scottish Government

Our Reference: 202000039717
Your Reference: request-667057-cf9892bf

Dear D. Cooke,

Thank you for your correspondence sent on 24/05/2020. Your query will be
passed to the relevant area for consideration and has been given a
reference number of 202000039717. Please quote this number in all
correspondence. The Scottish Government aim to respond, where necessary,
as quickly as possible and within the stated timescale as indicated on our
website
(http://www.gov.scot/about/contact-inform...).

Yours sincerely
MiCase
Correspondence system for SG and partner agencies

The Scottish Government takes your privacy seriously. You may have written
to us because you have a question or want to make a complaint. Our privacy
notice
(https://beta.gov.scot/publications/conta...),
available on our website, sets out how we use your personal data, and your
rights when communicating with us. It is made under Article 13 of the
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
********************************************************************** 
This e-mail (and any files or other attachments transmitted with it) is
intended solely for the attention of the addressee(s). Unauthorised use,
disclosure, storage, copying or distribution of any part of this e-mail is
not permitted. If you are not the intended recipient please destroy the
email, remove any copies from your system and inform the sender
immediately by return.
Communications with the Scottish Government may be monitored or recorded
in order to secure the effective operation of the system and for other
lawful purposes. The views or opinions contained within this e-mail may
not necessarily reflect those of the Scottish Government.
**********************************************************************
 

Scottish Government

2 Attachments

Please find attached a response to your correspondence.
********************************************************************** 
This e-mail (and any files or other attachments transmitted with it) is
intended solely for the attention of the addressee(s). Unauthorised use,
disclosure, storage, copying or distribution of any part of this e-mail is
not permitted. If you are not the intended recipient please destroy the
email, remove any copies from your system and inform the sender
immediately by return.
Communications with the Scottish Government may be monitored or recorded
in order to secure the effective operation of the system and for other
lawful purposes. The views or opinions contained within this e-mail may
not necessarily reflect those of the Scottish Government.
**********************************************************************
 

Dear Scottish Government,

Re. A)
The Scottish Government stated the following in the FOI mentioned:
"Please be advised that the Scottish Government does not fund Stonewall, but has provided funding to Stonewall Scotland, and that it is this organisation that the information below refers."
And, I believe this is incorrect as I covered in my original request. This is not the only time I have seen this statement made - I have seen similar multiple times . I also see them referred to separately.
You have not recognised the Scottish Government statement was incorrect, nor provided evidence of Stonewall Scotland as a distinct entity, company or charity, or applications showing separate account information - and have refused to assign responsibility.

(I hope at least you contacted the original FOI requester .)

I wish this to be highlighted and to no longer see this misleading representation in Scottish Government documentation.

In documentation Stonewall is referenced separately from Stonewall Scotland as if they are different companies when they are not. I have seen no statement that shows funds given to Stonewall are specifically and completely ring fenced solely for use in Scotland anywhere to date. And this 'grant' or equalities funding is not the only money I believe is given to Stonewall, public monies are constantly being paid for memberships, Diversity Champion related costs, training, merchandise etc throughout publicly funded institutions and organisations.

When people ask for information on Stonewall funding they mean all monies paid into Stonewall's account that is sourced from any public budgets that is 'our money' for whatever reason - not just 'equalities'.

Note:
I see a similar situation even more frequently with the Equality Network and their Scottish Trans Alliance Project over many years, ongoing. They are listed separately, referenced separately again and again when Scottish Trans Alliance is simply a project within the Equality Network company sharing staff.

This as it is used, suggests two separate organisations and far more 'people' than in reality. Indeed it seems to mean they get twice as much input and twice as many representatives as organisations not 'doing this'.

It is a doubling of 'trans' lobbying organisations that I see for none of the other organisations that have direct contact.

If you would simply recognise these facts either confirming that the Scottish Government was incorrect, confirming that separate listings for sub units /projects of the same company will cease and project payments clearly note the actual company receiving the funds - or providing concrete evidence of their being two distinct companies last ten years in each case, I can close this FOI.

Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
D.Cooke

Scottish Government

Our Reference: 202000056888
Your Reference: request-667057-cf9892bf

Dear D.Cooke,

Thank you for your correspondence sent on 05/07/2020. Your query will be
passed to the relevant area for consideration and has been given a
reference number of 202000056888. Please quote this number in all
correspondence. The Scottish Government aim to respond, where necessary,
as quickly as possible and within the stated timescale as indicated on our
website
(http://www.gov.scot/about/contact-inform...).

Yours sincerely
MiCase
Correspondence system for SG and partner agencies

The Scottish Government takes your privacy seriously. You may have written
to us because you have a question or want to make a complaint. Our privacy
notice
(https://beta.gov.scot/publications/conta...),
available on our website, sets out how we use your personal data, and your
rights when communicating with us. It is made under Article 13 of the
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
********************************************************************** 
This e-mail (and any files or other attachments transmitted with it) is
intended solely for the attention of the addressee(s). Unauthorised use,
disclosure, storage, copying or distribution of any part of this e-mail is
not permitted. If you are not the intended recipient please destroy the
email, remove any copies from your system and inform the sender
immediately by return.
Communications with the Scottish Government may be monitored or recorded
in order to secure the effective operation of the system and for other
lawful purposes. The views or opinions contained within this e-mail may
not necessarily reflect those of the Scottish Government.
**********************************************************************
 

Scottish Government

Our Reference: 202000083891
Your Reference: Stonewall funding/FOI 18-00320, Response is Incorrect

Dear D. Cooke,

Thank you for your correspondence received on 05/07/2020. Your query will
be passed to the relevant area for consideration and has been given a
reference number of 202000083891. Please quote this number in all
correspondence. The Scottish Government aim to respond, where necessary,
as quickly as possible and within the stated timescale as indicated on our
website
(http://www.gov.scot/about/contact-inform...).

Yours sincerely
MiCase
Correspondence system for SG and partner agencies

The Scottish Government takes your privacy seriously. You may have written
to us because you have a question or want to make a complaint. Our privacy
notice
(https://beta.gov.scot/publications/conta...),
available on our website, sets out how we use your personal data, and your
rights when communicating with us. It is made under Article 13 of the
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
********************************************************************** 
This e-mail (and any files or other attachments transmitted with it) is
intended solely for the attention of the addressee(s). Unauthorised use,
disclosure, storage, copying or distribution of any part of this e-mail is
not permitted. If you are not the intended recipient please destroy the
email, remove any copies from your system and inform the sender
immediately by return.
Communications with the Scottish Government may be monitored or recorded
in order to secure the effective operation of the system and for other
lawful purposes. The views or opinions contained within this e-mail may
not necessarily reflect those of the Scottish Government.
**********************************************************************
 

Dear Scottish Government,

This request is from May and given the lack of straightforward acknowledgement of the main issue I will accept that this repeated behaviour by Scottish Government to obscure relationships and to deny relationships between sub-parts and 'projects' and the actual company, the registered entity, has been and continues to be used intentionally. This is reprehensible.
(see Stonewall Scotland (sub unit of Stonewall), Scottish Trans Alliance Project (of Equality Network))

All 'projects' should always have 'project' in the name, AND the organisation managing the project AND the company that receives the funds CLEARLY STATED - in all cases, every time. (see RespectMe)

Funding for a project should always have been firmly ring fenced with clearly defined and documented SLAs. and tangible objectives. (see Equality Network's "Intersex Project", actually ALL funding in reality)

Due diligence and meaningful reporting and independent monitoring should always exist.

Cost benefit analyses should always been involved when the Scottish Government is giving millions of our money to these 'charities'.

'Partnerships' and 'consultancy' arrangements should always be thoroughly documented and freely available to the public.

The Scottish Government does none of these things - not consistently, if at all.

And, we should be able easily to get accurate statements of total monies, all monies, all routes, given from the public purse to each and everyone of these companies per year, and for every year since the SG started funding them.

(see Youthlink, also Stonewall Diversity Champions and other 'memberships', see training etc etc etc se so many FOIs where the Scottish Government claims 'not to have the information').

That, this information is not available is unconscionable.

Please raise these issues to the highest level of financial accounting and accountability.

Yours faithfully,

D. Cooke

Cooke left an annotation ()

Read my last note to them, continual avoidance as per usual.
They do not take seriously that they have written to members of the public stating lies and misinformation.
I hope the original FOI writer sees this at some point, as she can raise it to some ethical body on her own behalf, it is not my place.
The SG have colluded to minimise records of public monies going to the Stonewall lobby organisation. The fact is that most of the money goes on staff and overheads - its a lobby group.
And, our governments and others have given them millions upon millions.
This situation of most of the money going on staff without any apparent real benefits for the actual service users or the 'cause' I have found over and over again. We are paying for third sector mediocrities to influence our policies and laws -- badly.

Scottish Government

1 Attachment

Please find attached a response to your correspondence.
********************************************************************** 
This e-mail (and any files or other attachments transmitted with it) is
intended solely for the attention of the addressee(s). Unauthorised use,
disclosure, storage, copying or distribution of any part of this e-mail is
not permitted. If you are not the intended recipient please destroy the
email, remove any copies from your system and inform the sender
immediately by return.
Communications with the Scottish Government may be monitored or recorded
in order to secure the effective operation of the system and for other
lawful purposes. The views or opinions contained within this e-mail may
not necessarily reflect those of the Scottish Government.
**********************************************************************
 

Dear Scottish Government,
Re. Response from Paul Sloan.
FAO: Paul Sloan, Lisa Bird, Lesley Evans.
2020/09/21

I was clearly aware of the filings of the companies I have referred to, both Stonewall Equality Limited
and the Equality Network Limited, they are the companies, the ones who file; they are the registered entities.
(Companies House filings are high level, limited as to detail and are NOT verified. )

It is time for the Scottish Government to stop prevaricating and being obtuse on these issues and be truthful. Stonewall Scotland IS Stonewall. Scottish Tarns Alliance IS the Equality Network.

Monies are paid DIRECTLY into the accounts of these two companies, therefore it is to them the Scottish Government is making payment. To refer to a project without identifying it clearly as a project is misleading and wrong. For the Scottish Government to state they fund or pay Stonewall Scotland for example and NOT Stonewall, is INCORRECT.

The Scottish Government has NOT had, has NEVER had, a contractual agreement with these companies that clearly, consistently, and absolutely RING FENCES the monies paid into their accounts for the projects mentioned; not to date, not to my knowledge.

The use of the money from the public purse is unmonitored, there is no detailed accounting, there is no review, and no independent checks that the monies are used as intended. There is never any cost benefit analyses. We are talking millions of pounds of our taxes over the years simply paid into these companies accounts based on their own applications, and never validated, never reviewed. The very major part of all income for these companies goes on staff, nothing more, and they are LOBBYISTS. They provide little (if any) tangible benefit.

Your use of the word 'distinctive' re Scottish Trans Alliance is, to be polite, disingenuous; the Equality Network is a company with projects that share staff, their own funding applications show this, and I doubt there has ever been a review of hourly timesheets with project task tracking, or verification of any claim, and no one can be in any doubt that their focus, their overriding emphasis and purpose, is solely 'Transgenderism'.

[I must also seriously question your repeated claim that these organisations represent lesbians and bisexuals, not only do they deny biological sex attraction therefore fundamentally erasing sexual orientation in the first place, there is so little evidence of anything tangible being done for these groups ever. They instead promulgate the most regressive of gender stereotypes. I would even say they display a distinct animosity and encourage animosity towards any L, G, or B or LGB group that is not T and any individual that prioritises or even simply references the L, or G or B or LGB without the T.]

As for "Intersex" the Scottish Government in this century should have known, must surely know, that this does not exist in fact; it is but a colloquial, general term and much misused, that you again reference this above and the Scottish Government continues to conflate LGB with the T and the I, is despicable.

The funding of the Equality Network Intersex Project has, I see, been questioned many times over many years. Not only is it unconnected with either Sexual Orientation or Genderism (though some with DSDs may be gay or claim trans obviously) but the staff are first and foremost lobbyists for Gender Ideology and most importantly they are completely unqualified to deal with, or even discuss, the issues of the many variations that may result from sexual reproduction, in sexual development, and general human growth and development, other than at the most superficial level. It is a very complex subject, and they obviously struggle with basic mammalian biology, indeed they refuse to accept it.

This has been an obvious misdirection of public monies that should have gone to DSD individuals or DSD Support organisations, and/or to NHS DSD statistical tracking systems, and not to those whose main interest is to misuse these people as examples of a 'sex spectrum' , as unfortunately, many so called Intersex groups and organisations do similar to the 'Trans orgs'. Not one can be seen to have done anything to stop the spread of misinformation, indeed they are often the sources, the main culprits.

The constant misrepresentation, indeed lies about the actual situation in Scotland by these organisations
has never been called out by the Scottish Government. I have researched and the NHS in Scotland operates on congenital abnormalities of babies/children for function, not 'aesthetics or gender confirmation or stereotypes' (and we have not had any 'trans or intersex murders'!) indeed I have been told that Scotland has highly regarded specialists and some come from abroad with the most complex of cases for treatment. Hypospadias ops are for function and are NOT generally considered intersex or DSDs per se and yes, sometimes there are ongoing issues. but it is not because Scottish surgeons are incompetent or callous. The exaggeration of the numbers of births with chromosomal variations and DSDs of substance is highly unprofessional, irresponsible and dishonest, and they do not, not in anyway substantiate that humans are other than a binary sexed species; everyone has a sex. [Non binary is a nonsense and that a Chief Medical Officer has signed documents asserting that this exists on behalf of NHS Scotland is absurd.]

It is beyond time the Scottish Government returned to evidence based policy and empiricism and the standards, professionalism, responsibility, accountability and integrity the public expect. Expertise must reside in the civil service itself.

I hope others will take up these topics, far too much money is going to the third sector without tracking or any verification of how it is spent, and whether it is value for money. I do not agree with our money being spent on lobbying organisations who in turn then lobby government, who then refer to these organisations as 'external stakeholders' as if independent. This co dependency, this is a closed loop, it is not representing the public, and is a corruption of democratic process etc..

Yours faithfully,
D. Cooke

Scottish Government

Our Reference: 202000091112

Dear D Cooke,

Thank you for your correspondence received on 24/09/2020. Your query will
be passed to the relevant area for consideration and has been given a
reference number of 202000091112. Please quote this number in all
correspondence. The Scottish Government aim to respond, where necessary,
as quickly as possible and within the stated timescale as indicated on our
website
(http://www.gov.scot/about/contact-inform...).

Yours sincerely
MiCase
Correspondence system for SG and partner agencies

The Scottish Government takes your privacy seriously. You may have written
to us because you have a question or want to make a complaint. Our privacy
notice
(https://beta.gov.scot/publications/conta...),
available on our website, sets out how we use your personal data, and your
rights when communicating with us. It is made under Article 13 of the
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
********************************************************************** 
This e-mail (and any files or other attachments transmitted with it) is
intended solely for the attention of the addressee(s). Unauthorised use,
disclosure, storage, copying or distribution of any part of this e-mail is
not permitted. If you are not the intended recipient please destroy the
email, remove any copies from your system and inform the sender
immediately by return.
Communications with the Scottish Government may be monitored or recorded
in order to secure the effective operation of the system and for other
lawful purposes. The views or opinions contained within this e-mail may
not necessarily reflect those of the Scottish Government.
**********************************************************************
 

Cooke left an annotation ()

They have constantly misrepresented the situation with Stonewall and Stonewall Scotland and Equality Network and Scottish Trans Alliance, SAMH and LGBTYS and RespectMe and on -- for years and continue to do so. To say they fund Stonewall Scotland but not Stonewall is a lie.
The intimate relationship they have with the Equality Network particularly its Scottish Trans Alliance Project is highly unusual and highly suspect. There is something very wrong in the Equalities Unit, Third Sector and Government Equalities Office and EHRC etc. Our elected representatives and others are letting down the citizenry and our democracy. Complete institutional capture by unsound ideologues; ideologies and agendas. Insane.