Care homes and the coronavirus

Dear Mr Everett

Thank you for your information request dated 7 May 2020 (received by Angus
Council that same day).

If we are unable to respond within the prescribed time periods, 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 491752 or email
[1][Angus Council request email]  

Yours sincerely

Brenda Angus

Brenda Angus | Business Support Assistant | Angus Council | Tel: 01307
491752 | DX 530678 FORFAR | Email: [2][email address] or
[3][email address] |[4]www.angus.gov.uk

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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004

INSPIRE (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2009

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020: |
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| (Temporary changes to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002) |
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|  |
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|The maximum timescale within which Scottish public authorities must respond to|
|requests is extended from 20 to 60 working days |
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|  |
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|The maximum timescale within which Scottish public authorities must respond to|
|requests that it review its initial handling of an FOI request is extended|
|from 20 to 60 working days |
| |
|  |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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 Director - Legal & Democratic, Angus Council, Angus House,
Orchardbank Business Park, Forfar DD8 1AN or e-mail
[5][Angus Council request email] 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:

[6]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 - [7][email address])

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Everett

Request for Information

Thank you for your request for information dated 7 May 2020 (received by
the Council on the same day) which has been passed to me for attention.

You have requested the following information and I have provided our
response in bold type.

Please provide all emails about COVID-19 between this council and these
care home providers:

- HC-One

- Four Seasons

- Barchester

- Bupa

- Care UK

- Renaissance

Please also provide all emails about COVID-19 between this council and all
local authority-run care homes.

As a timeframe, please carry out a search between 1st February and 7th
May.

We are unable to respond to your request as you have not specified the
information you wish to receive, but have only requested documents or
records.

To put this into context for you, the Freedom of Information (Scotland)
Act 2002 gives people the right to request information that public
authorities hold.  However, the Act does not require public authorities to
provide copies of documents or records containing the information
requested, only the information itself.

I would also note that much of the correspondence you have requested would
include information which relates to identifiable service users and
therefore would require to be redacted under the Data Protection Act 2018
before it could be released to you, or might be deemed exempt under
section 38 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.  Other items
of correspondence would be in relation to contractual arrangements between
the Council and a care home which are likely to be of a confidential
nature and therefore exempt under section 36 of the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002.  Furthermore, much of the correspondence between our
staff and care homes is not of a nature that it would constitute a record
under the terms of the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011, and we do not,
as a rule, retain emails of this sort.

In compiling responses to information requests we invariably use
information which is routinely published on the [1]Council’s website or
through its [2]Publication Scheme.  If you require further information
please first check that the information you want is not routinely
published as any such information is exempt from release in terms of
Section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 or Regulation
6(1)(b) of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

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 at
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 in the Appendix 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 ask for me on 03452 777 778 or e-mail 
[3][email address]

Yours sincerely

[4]Sig

Keith Whitefield

Data Protection Officer, Angus Health and Social Care Partnership

APPENDIX

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004

INSPIRE (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2009

Your Right to Complain to 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 Head of Legal & Democratic Services, Angus Council, Angus
House, Orchardbank Business Park, Forfar DD8 1AN or e-mail
[5][Angus Council request email] 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 Complain 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.

The Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted at:-

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

Keith Whitefield
Programme Manager & Data Protection Officer
Angus Health and Social Care Partnership
Improvement & Development Team
Angus House, Orchardbank Business Park
[6]AHSCP Forfar, DD8 1AN             Website: [10]PBD small
[7]www.AngusHSCP.scot

NEW Tel: (01307) 492611     [mobile number]
Email: [8][email address]  or
[9][email address]  

[11]cid:image002.png@01D5F88C.F8948310

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References

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