CMT papers etc.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Learning and Teaching Scotland,

This is a request for information.

I understand from your excellent website that you have a Corporate Management Team.

If the Team has meetings, please provide me with information about minutes of, and papers submitted to, those meetings in 2009 and 2010.

Thank you. Please provide me with a copy of the information, in an electronic format.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Wyllie

Jenni Whitelaw, Learning and Teaching Scotland

Dear Mr Wyllie

Freedom of Information Request (LTS Ref: 136)

Thank you for your request for information which was received by Learning
and Teaching Scotland on 22 July 2010

A response to your request for information will be sent to you promptly;
and in any event not later than 18 August 2010

Should you have any queries in the meantime regarding your request please
contact me direct.

Yours sincerely

Tegwen Wallace

Senior Communications and Information Officer

Jenni Whitelaw, Communications and Information Assistant

T: 01382 443656

Learning and Teaching Scotland

City House, Level 9, The Overgate

Dundee, DD1 1UH

www.LTScotland.org.uk

Tegwen Wallace, Learning and Teaching Scotland

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Wyllie

Freedom of Information Request (LTS reference: 136) – request for
clarification under section 1(3) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland)
Act 2002

I refer to your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to Learning and Teaching Scotland dated 22
July 2010.

You requested the following information about Learning and Teaching
Scotland’s Corporate Management Team:

If the Team has meetings, please provide me with information about
minutes of, and papers submitted to, those meetings in 2009 and

2010.

The Corporate Management Team does have meetings and has met on a regular
basis, generally every two weeks, throughout 2009 and 2010. Summary notes
which highlight main action points, and include references to papers, are
put up on the company intranet.

If you require more information can you please provide us with some detail
about the information that you are requesting in this instance? Is there a
particular subject area that you are interested in?

Yours sincerely

Tegwen Wallace

Senior Communications and Information Officer

Tegwen Wallace, Senior Communications and Information Officer

T: +44 (0) 1382 443619

Learning and Teaching Scotland

Level 9, City House, Overgate, Dundee, DD1 1UH.

www.LTScotland.org.uk

Register for SLF 2010 today! Conference programme and registration now
available at [1]www.scottishlearningfestival.co.uk

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References

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1. http://www.scottishlearningfestival.co.uk/

Dear Tegwen Wallace,

Thank you for your message, which I received today.

I should perhaps say that when I request information "about" the minutes and papers, I mean I request a copy of the information "contained in" such minutes and papers.

I'm sorry if this looks a big job, but I hope in relation to the notes of the meetings it's not. If you find it's taking too much time to collate and scan the information on the papers, please get back to me, and I'll happily retract that part of the request. I hope that would lessen the burden a little.

Thanks for your help.

Tegwen Wallace, Learning and Teaching Scotland

Dear Mr Wyllie

Thank you for your email of 6 August 2010 providing clarification regarding your Freedom of Information request.

It would take considerable time and effort for us to compile and, where appropriate, redact the papers that go to our CMT meetings. The costs of this would be far in excess of £600. On the question of forwarding you copies of the summary CMT minutes, we estimate that this would cost approximately £300. In the ordinary course of events in previous years we would have been able to accommodate your request without asking for a contribution. We are however now receiving an increasing number of FOI requests and only have limited resource to devote to this area.

Please let us know therefore if you wish us to issue you with a Fees Notice in respect of the summary CMT minutes.

Your sincerely

Tegwen Wallace

Tegwen Wallace, Senior Communications and Information Officer
T: +44 (0) 1382 443619
Learning and Teaching Scotland
Level 9, City House, Overgate, Dundee, DD1 1UH.
www.LTScotland.org.uk

show quoted sections

Dear Tegwen Wallace,

Thank you for your email.

I wonder if you could amplify how you reach the figures to which you refer?

Also, have you considered what implications this has for your records management procedures? It appears that CMT is a major decision-maker, and an important organisation within LTS.

If LTS are unable even to locate and forward minutes and papers of meetings of this organisation, which appears to be the contention here, this is a major shortcoming.

It would appear to indicate that LTS cannot maintain the same records management procedures used throughout the public sector, which harms accountability.

Unless I receive a satisfactory explaination that this is not the case from you, I shall put the matter before the Scottish Information Commissioner in his role as guardian or records management, and I shall also seek the assistance of my MSP to refer to Ministers.

I look forward to your response by the end of this week.

Tegwen Wallace, Learning and Teaching Scotland

Dear Mr Wyllie

Thank you for your further email of 11 August 2010.

We have considered your request further and will be able to provide you with copies of the summary CMT minutes, subject to any exemptions being applied, as soon as possible and certainly by 2 September (20 working days from 6 August when we received clarification of your original request).

There will be no charge on this occasion.

Yours sincerely

Tegwen Wallace

Tegwen Wallace, Senior Communications and Information Officer
T: +44 (0) 1382 443619
Learning and Teaching Scotland
Level 9, City House, Overgate, Dundee, DD1 1UH.
www.LTScotland.org.uk

show quoted sections

Tegwen Wallace, Learning and Teaching Scotland

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Wyllie

Freedom of Information Request (LTS reference: 136)

I refer to your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to Learning and Teaching Scotland which
was clarified on Friday 6 August 2010.

You requested a copy of the information contained in the Corporate
Management Team Summary Notes for 2009 and 2010.

Please see attached lists of meetings scheduled for 2009 and 2010 (to end
of July). For some dates in 2009 the meetings were cancelled.

Following this email I will send you four more emails which will have the
CMT Summary Notes attached (as pdf files within compressed folders). If
you have any problems accessing these files please let me know. I can
post them to you if you would prefer; in which case please provide a
delivery address.

There is some information in these documents which has been withheld for
the reasons given below.

Personal Information

Throughout all the Summary Notes there are references to individuals who
are not members of the Corporate Management Team. This information has
been redacted to preserve the anonymity of the subject.

Disclosure of this information would contravene the Data Protection Act
1998 so it has been withheld under Section 38(1)(b) and 2(a)(i) Personal
information of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. This is an
absolute exemption which has been applied to personal data, the disclosure
of which would be a breach of the first data protection principle in the
Data Protection Act Act 1998 that ‘personal data shall be processed
fairly and lawfully’.

The other two redactions are indicated specifically on the documents
concerned and the reasons for non-disclosure are given below.

100118 CMT Notes / Actions

Section 9 – The information contained within this section has not been
disclosed as we consider it exempt under the following sections of the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002:

· Section 32(1)(b) International relations. It refers to
confidential information received from a State other than the UK. The
terms on which the information was obtained still require it to be held in
confidence and the circumstances in which it was obtained make it
reasonable for the State to expect that it will be so held.

· Section 30(b)(ii) Prejudice to effective conduct of public
affairs. We consider that were we to disclose this information it would,
or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank exchange
of views for the purposes of deliberation. As this is not a ‘class
exemption’ we have considered the effect of releasing the specific
information involved and have concluded that as the matter is still being
deliberated by Learning and Teaching Scotland and other parties, and is at
a sensitive stage, it would potentially cause significant harm to the
parties involved were we to release the information at this point in time.

We have also considered the public interest in relation to this
information, and both exemptions, and have concluded that, in all the
circumstances of the case, the public interest is best served by
withholding this information at present. A public announcement regarding
the subject of the information will be made when/if appropriate.

100707 CMT Notes / Actions

Item 7.1 – The information in this item has not been disclosed as we
consider it exempt under Section 30(b)(i) and (ii) Prejudice to effective
conduct of public affairs of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act
2002. We consider that were we to disclose this information it would, or
would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of
advice and exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation.

As this is not a ‘class exemption’ we have considered the effect of
releasing the specific information involved and have concluded that as the
information relates to a third party and is very current it would
potentially cause significant harm to the parties involved were we to
release the information at this point in time.

We have also considered the public interest in relation to this
information and have concluded that, in all the circumstances of the case,
the public interest is best served by withholding the information at this
stage.

If you are not satisfied with the way in which we have dealt with your
request for information made under the Freedom of Information (Scotland)
Act 2002, you have the right to request a review of our actions and
decisions in relation to that request. A request for a review must be made
within 40 working days of the original decision, should include the name
and address of the applicant for correspondence, the request for
information to which the review refers and the matter giving rise to the
dissatisfaction. Review requests should be sent to:

Senior Communications and Information Officer
Learning and Teaching Scotland
Level 9
City House
Dundee
DD1 1UH

The request will be acknowledged and a review will be carried out by a
senior official within LTS. Their decision will be sent to you within 20
working days of receipt of the request. If you are still dissatisfied, you
have a right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a
decision. Further details on this process are available on the
Commissioner’s website
[1]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/home/...

Other contact details are as follows:

The Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
KY16 9DS
Tel: 01334 464610
E-mail: [2][email address]

Yours sincerely

Tegwen Wallace
Senior Communications and Information Officer

Tegwen Wallace, Senior Communications and Information Officer
T: +44 (0) 1382 443619
Learning and Teaching Scotland
Level 9, City House, Overgate, Dundee, DD1 1UH.
[3]www.LTScotland.org.uk

Register for SLF 2010 today! Conference programme and registration now
available at [4]www.scottishlearningfestival.co.uk

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References

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1. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/home/...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/
4. http://www.scottishlearningfestival.co.uk/

Tegwen Wallace, Learning and Teaching Scotland

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Wyllie

Freedom of Information Request (LTS reference: 136)

Further to my previous emails please find attached redacted CMT Summary
Notes for the following meetings in 2009.

(Folder 1)

3 August

17 August

31 August

14 September

29 September

(Folder 2)

12 October

26 October

9 November

7 December

21 December

Yours sincerely

Tegwen Wallace
Senior Communications and Information Officer

Tegwen Wallace, Senior Communications and Information Officer

T: +44 (0) 1382 443619

Learning and Teaching Scotland

Level 9, City House, Overgate, Dundee, DD1 1UH.

www.LTScotland.org.uk

Register for SLF 2010 today! Conference programme and registration now
available at [1]www.scottishlearningfestival.co.uk

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://www.scottishlearningfestival.co.uk/

Tegwen Wallace, Learning and Teaching Scotland

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Wyllie

Freedom of Information Request (LTS reference: 136)

Further to my previous email please find attached redacted CMT Summary
Notes for the following meetings in 2009.

(Folder 1)

12 January

26 January

16 February

2 March

16 March

(Folder 2)

30 March

30 April

26 May

8 June

22 June

Yours sincerely

Tegwen Wallace
Senior Communications and Information Officer

Tegwen Wallace, Senior Communications and Information Officer

T: +44 (0) 1382 443619

Learning and Teaching Scotland

Level 9, City House, Overgate, Dundee, DD1 1UH.

www.LTScotland.org.uk

Tegwen Wallace, Learning and Teaching Scotland

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Wyllie

Freedom of Information Request (LTS reference: 136)

Further to my previous emails please find attached redacted CMT Summary
Notes for the following meetings in 2010:

(Folder 1)

24 May

7 June

21 June

7 July

Yours sincerely

Tegwen Wallace
Senior Communications and Information Officer

Tegwen Wallace, Senior Communications and Information Officer
T: +44 (0) 1382 443619
Learning and Teaching Scotland
Level 9, City House, Overgate, Dundee, DD1 1UH.
[1]www.LTScotland.org.uk

Register for SLF 2010 today! Conference programme and registration now
available at [2]www.scottishlearningfestival.co.uk

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/
2. http://www.scottishlearningfestival.co.uk/