Board meetings minutes

Francis Kerr made this Freedom of Information request to Barrhead Housing Association Limited Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Barrhead Housing Association Limited,

I note that your website does not have minutes of your Board meetings uploaded from January 2024 onwards - can you please explain why?

Can you please supply all of the agendas, papers and minutes of your Board meetings from January 2024 onwards? This includes both main Board meetings as well as any sub-committee or other meetings.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

Francis Kerr

Dear Barrhead Housing Association Limited,

I am current awaiting a response to my freedom of information request which, by law, you should have responded to before 10 September 2024.

Please provide me with an update as a matter of urgency.

Yours faithfully,

Francis Kerr

Karen Devon, Barrhead Housing Association Limited

2 Attachments

Firstly, apologies for the late response, it appears the email was
quarantined and after a search I have located it. 
The reason the Board minutes are not on the website are due to the new
website being built and it is now live and I am in the process of
uploading. All approved and signed minutes will be uploaded by myself. 
I am going to speak with the DPO (Data Protection Officer) regarding
sharing papers as there are often confidential items included. 
I will be in touch with you asap. 
Again, apologies for the mix up with timings, I have now marked you as a
known contact to ensure no emails are missed in the future. 
Kind Regards,  

 

Hi Karen,

Thanks for your quick response today.

Yours sincerely,

Francis Kerr

Daradjeet Jagpal,

Dear Francis

Thank you for your request.

In order to assist with the processing of your request, could we ask if
there is any specific information that you are looking for within the
Board minutes, papers and agendas for your prescribed timescales please?

The reason why we ask is that the searches for the information that you
have requested have identified a significant volume of information.  We
feel it would be more helpful for you if we could look out and provide you
with the specific and relevant information that you are looking for.

Many thanks.

Kind regards

Daradjeet

Dear Daradjeet Jagpal,

Thanks for your reply.

I am not looking for any specific information in your Board minutes, papers and agendas. I am making the request due to only a handful of these documents being made available on your website - only six in total since last September (and none from before then).

A polite reminder that I am requesting such information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and you should have responded by 10 September 2024.

I have been courteous enough to not request an internal review before now, so I would fully expect these documents to be provided in a timely manner, or I will have little choice to take further action, including an internal review but also up to taking up the matter with the Scottish Information Commissioner's office.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Francis Kerr

Dear Karen Devon,

Please may I have an update on my freedom of information request which, by law, Barrhead Housing Association should have responded to before 10 September 2024.

If I do not receive a response to my request promptly, I will be left with little choice but to request an internal review or to take up the matter with the office of the Scottish Information Commissioner.

You can find all of my correspondence, including dates, here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...

I look forward to an update as a matter of urgency.

Yours sincerely,

Francis Kerr

Daradjeet Jagpal,

5 Attachments

Dear Francis

Thank you for your e-mail.

Colleagues have been working through the information for your request. The Board minutes relating to the period covered by your request are now available on the Barrhead HA website. Please follow this link to access them: https://barrheadha.org/about/reports-and...

Please also find attached the minutes for the sub-Boards for the period covered by your request.

Colleagues are working through the Board reports at the moment, and we will come back to you on those by the end of this week at the very latest.

Thank you for your patience during the processing of this request.

Kind regards

Daradjeet

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Karen Devon, Barrhead Housing Association Limited

2 Attachments

Hi Francis, 
This was sent to the Data Protection Officer and I have passed all
materials on. Daradjeet had to take it from the date I got the email, as
you know it was in quarantine. 
Everything from January 2024 is passed on and you will hear from DPO.
There was a lot of material to go through. 
I will send a reminder to action this asap. 
Thanks 

 

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: Francis Kerr <[FOI #1157447 email]>
Sent: Monday, October 7, 2024 16:43
To: Karen Devon <[email address]>
Subject: Re: FOI request
 
[You don't often get email from [FOI #1157447 email]. Learn why this is
important at [1]https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]

Dear Karen Devon,

Please may I have an update on my freedom of information request which, by
law, Barrhead Housing Association should have responded to before 10
September 2024.

If I do not receive a response to my request promptly,  I will be left
with little choice but to request an internal review or to take up the
matter with the office of the Scottish Information Commissioner.

You can find all of my correspondence, including dates, here:
[2]https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

I look forward to an update as a matter of urgency.

Yours sincerely,

Francis Kerr

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Daradjeet Jagpal,

7 Attachments

Dear Francis

Following on from our e-mail of earlier this week, please find attached the
Board and sub-Board reports for the period covered by your request.

Please note that the documents "GB Papers 22 02 24" and "GB 18 04 24"
contain some redacted information because we consider this to be exempt from
disclosure on the basis that the information is commercially sensitive. We
will explain our reasons for this in detail early next week. We wanted to
ensure that you received the reports today in line with our below e-mail.

Please note that we are sending this e-mail in two parts due to e-mail attachment size limits.

Many thanks.

Kind regards

Daradjeet

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Daradjeet Jagpal,

5 Attachments

Dear Francis

This is e-mail 2 of 2 containing additional attachments.

Kind regards

Daradjeet

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Daradjeet Jagpal,

1 Attachment

Dear Francis

Following on from our e-mail of last week, and with our apologies for the short delay in coming back to you, please find below an explanation of why information has been redacted from the documents
"GB Papers 22 02 24" and "GB 18 04 24", which were disclosed in response to your request last week.

The information redacted from page 36 of document “GB Papers 22 02 24” and pages 12 to 16 and pages 35 to 38 of document “GB 18 04 24” has been withheld from disclosure based on the exemption contained in Section 33(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). This provides for an exemption from disclosure where disclosure of the information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person.

We consider that we have a commercial interest in that redacted information because it relates to our operational activities as a registered social landlord in Scotland. In particular, the information pertains to our commercial interests in our future property development activities and also strategic matters concerning our business operations and structure. These matters are at the very early consideration stage at the moment, and the information is not such that it can be made publicly available just yet (which is the consequence of a disclosure in response to a FOISA request). Indeed, disclosure at this stage, where matters are still at their infancy, would cause substantial prejudice to our commercial operational interests at this time, and could have a negative impact on our involvement – and indeed even our readiness to be involved – in such matters going forward. The prejudice caused to our commercial interests with regard to these matters would therefore be real and substantial in nature.

The exemption contained in Section 33(1)(b) of FOISA is subject to the public interest test. This means that we must assess whether, in all the circumstances, the public interest is better served by disclosure of the information or by maintaining the exemption. We acknowledge that as a registered social landlord in Scotland, it is important that we act openly and transparently, particularly given the broad public interest in matters concerning our operational activities. At the same time, however, we consider that there is an overriding public interest in us being permitted a space to consider and deliberate on such matters, freely and frankly, without the risk of public disclosure when said matters are at a very early stage and potentially subject to substantial change or in which we may decide to withdraw from involvement altogether. We are therefore of the view that the public interest is better served by maintaining the exemption in relation to the information redacted from the above documents.

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which we have dealt with your request, you may ask us to review our actions and decisions in relation to the request. If you would like us to do so, please send an e-mail to [Barrhead Housing Association request email] or write to the following address within 40 working days of the date of this response, including the reference “Request for Information 2024/005” in the e-mail or letter and the reason(s) why you are dissatisfied with this response:

FOI Review Officer
Barrhead Housing Association
60 – 70 Main Street
Barrhead
Glasgow
East Renfrewshire
G78 1SB

Please note that the review will be handled by a member of staff who was not involved in the original decision. You will receive notice of the result of your review within 20 working days of us receiving your request for review.

If you are dissatisfied with the decision that we issue once the review has been completed or if we fail to carry out a review, you may apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision on whether your request for information was dealt with in accordance with access to information legislation. The Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS

Telephone: 01334 464610
Fax: 01334 464611
E-mail: [email address]

You may also make a complaint about how we have handled your request for information in accordance with our Complaints Handling Procedure, which is available at: https://barrheadha.org/my-home/make-a-co...

Information on how we hold and use your personal data when handling and responding to your request is contained within the attached document: “Transparency Statement (Access to Information Requests)”.

Kind regards

Daradjeet

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