Scottish Information Commissioner David Hamilton has opened an intervention to improve record-keeping within Perth and Kinross Council, following the Council’s confirmation that it holds no records about a decision it took to remove a director-level post.
The intervention was launched following the Commissioner’s investigation of an appeal under Scotland’s freedom of information (FOI) laws. The FOI appeal was made after a requester was told that the Council held no information about its decision to remove the post of Director of Economy, Place and Learning from the Council’s organisational structure.
The Commissioner’s initial appeal ruling found that the Council had interpreted the FOI request too narrowly, and required that it carry out further searches to identify information. When these searches subsequently failed to identify any information - with the Council informing the Commissioner that only verbal discussions had taken place – the Commissioner took the decision to open an intervention to bring improvements in the Council’s record-keeping.
Under Scotland’s FOI law, the Commissioner is responsible for promoting the following of good practice by Scottish public bodies. This includes compliance with the Scottish Government’s Code of Practice on Records Management by Scottish Public Authorities.
Commenting on the launch of the intervention, Commissioner David Hamilton said:
“At face value, the decision to abolish a director-level post - responsible for the delivery of a wide range of key public services - without a single record being kept, seems astonishing.
"As the Code of Practice on Records Management sets out, good record keeping is the lifeblood of an organisation - it helps to support good practice, demonstrate robust decision-making and ensure compliance with the law. My intervention will assess both the extent to which the Council has complied with the Code of Practice in this matter, and whether this was a deliberate policy to evade public scrutiny. I won’t hesitate to recommend that remedial action is taken, where appropriate.”
If the Commissioner finds that the Council has not complied with the Code of Practice on Records Management he may, in consultation with the Keeper of the Records of Scotland, takes steps to support improvement. This may, for example, include the issue of a formal recommendation setting out the action the Council should take to improve compliance for the future.
The intervention will take place at Level 2 of the Commissioner's intervention activity. Level 2 interventions are designed to address failures in public authority practice and require steps to be taken to resolve the matter.
Further information on the Commissioner's approach when undertaking interventions to improve public authority FOI practice is available at: www.foi.scot/interventions-activity
Read the Commissioner's letter notifying Perth and Kinross Council of the Level 2 intervention.
