23-24/63

I refer to your request for information (FOI 23-24 / 63) dated 12 November 2023 which we have handled under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA).

You requested the following information:

a. How many responses have been changed as a result of a review request by the person seeking information?

b. For these cases in (a), how many of the new responses have not to-date been published in the disclosure log?

c. How many cases has the Scottish Information Commissioner upheld or partially upheld against GTC Scotland?

d. Of these cases at (c), for how many has the Scottish Information Commissioner required a new response?

e. For these cases at (d), how many of the new responses have not to-date been published in the disclosure log?

I provide a response to each of your requests below.

Regarding A, no responses on the disclosure log have been changed due to an internal review request by the person seeking information.

Regarding B, no responses are awaiting publication on the disclosure log due to an internal review request by the person seeking information.

Regarding C, this information is already accessible on the website of the Office of the Scottish Information here. I have therefore applied section 25 of FOISA as the information is otherwise accessible.

Regarding D, this information is already accessible on the website of the Office of the Scottish Information here. I have therefore applied section 25 of FOISA as the information is otherwise accessible.

Regarding E, no responses are awaiting publication on the disclosure log due to a decision by the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner.

I hope this information is helpful. If you are dissatisfied with this response, you may contact informationgovernance@gtcs.org.uk to request GTCS conduct a review of this decision. You should describe the original request and explain your grounds of review. You have 40 working days from receipt of this decision to submit a review request. When the review process has been completed, if you are still dissatisfied, you may use the Scottish Information Commissioner's guidance on making an appeal to make an appeal to the Commissioner.  

I refer to your request dated 30 November 2023 for a review of the response you received on 30 November 2023 to your original information request (FOI 23-24/63). To enable your request to be considered afresh and impartially by someone who had not responded to your original request, I was appointed to undertake the internal review.

I have considered your review request, the information you requested and our organisation’s obligations under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). I have concluded that the original response should be upheld with modification and additional clarification in accordance with our duty to provide advice and assistance under s15 of FOISA.

Your original request

In your original request you stated the following:

Please could you let me know the following information about FOI responses since GTC Scotland started publishing its responses on its website in the disclosure log?

a. How many responses have been changed as a result of areview request by the person seeking information?

b. For these cases in (a), how many of the new responseshave not to-date been published in the disclosure log?

c. How many cases has the Scottish InformationCommissioner upheld or partially upheld against GTC Scotland?

d. Of these cases at (c), for how many has the ScottishInformation Commissioner required a new response?

e. For these cases at (d), how many of the new responses have not to-date been published in the disclosure log?

We responded to your request for information on 30 November 2023 applying section 25 of FOISA to a portion of the requests.

On 30 November 2023, you sent an email requesting we review our decision under section 20(1) of FOISA.

Your internal review request  

In your review request you state:

Your response to question a:

I have had FOI responses changed as a result of submitting a review request, so the number cannot be zero. See for example the attached response (dated 31st October 2023) to a review request which changed the response.

Your response to question b:

The attached changed response (as a result of my successful review request) had not on the date of my request (or at any time) been published in the disclosure log -therefore the number cannot be zero.

Your response to question c:

The information is not available on the “website of the of the Scottish Information [sic]” because that website gives no information about how long GTC Scotland has been publishing FOI responses on its website. Additionally the Commissioners’ website is often out of date. Publication of decision can be delayed for the reasons given in the Commissioner’s investigations handbook or for operational reasons. At times there have been delays of several weeks for operations reasons. No decision is published on the day that an authority is made aware of the decision.

Therefore the Commissioner’s website is not a reliable and up-to-date source of such information.

Your Response to question d:

For the reasons given above this information is not otherwise accessible.

Your Response to Question e:

Your response does not answer the question that I asked. I did not ask for the number of responses awaiting publication on the disclosure log due to a decision by the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner. I asked how many of the responses required by the commissioner have not to-date been published in the disclosure log.

Our response

Based on your review request, it appears that you are looking for the number of responses which have been modified due to an internal review request since GTC Scotland started publishing responses on its website in the Disclosure Log. We established a Disclosure Log and began publishing responses on it in April 2021. Please see our responses below based on the criteria above.

Regarding Question A, since April 2021, there have been 5 internal review requests which have resulted in the original response being modified, including the response currently under review (FOI 23-24/63). On receipt of your internal review request, it became clear you were requesting the number of internal review responses that modified their original decision rather than what appears on the Disclosure Log.

Regarding Question B, the original response was provided as there is no current practice by which we publish internal review responses or their impact on initial responses on the Disclosure Log. As indicated by the number in A above, it is not a situation that arises often. We will seek advice on best practice for managing this situation and take action accordingly.

Regarding C, I can confirm that the information available on the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website reflects the most up to date decisions involving GTC Scotland. This original response therefore remains unmodified.

Regarding D, I can confirm that the information available on the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website reflects the most up to date decisions involving GTC Scotland. The original response therefore remains unmodified.

Regarding E, no new responses required by the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner are awaiting publication on the Disclosure Log. As with B above, there is no current practice by which we publish new responses required by the Scottish Information Commissioner on the Disclosure Log, as to date it has been an exceptional occurrence. Again, we will seek advice on best practice for managing this situation and take action accordingly.

I hope that this has been of some assistance but if you remain dissatisfied with the responses you have received, you have the right to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner. You must do so within six months of receipt of this response. The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance on making an appeal describes the process, including the application form. Further information, including relevant contact details is available on the website. www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal