Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 Partial Release of Information

A Campbell Date 25 June 2012 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx RFI No 401459 xxxxxx.xxx Your Ref

Dear A Campbell

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – Partial Release of Information

Subject: The Public Services Reform, (Scotland) Act 2010

Thank you for your request for information which has been dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. You requested:

“The Public Services Reform, (Scotland) Act 2010, (the Act) came into force on 1 October 2010. Sections 31 to 32 of Part 3, places duties on public bodies to provide and publish information on certain expenditure and exercise of functions.

31 Public functions: duties to provide information on certain expenditure etc.

(1) As soon as is reasonably practicable after the end of each financial year each listed public body must publish a statement of any expenditure that it has incurred during that financial year on or in connection with the matters described in subsection (2).

Jody Mackay, Legal and Administrative Services W a v e r l e y C o u r t, L e v e l 3 .1 , 4 E a s t M a rk e t S tr e e t, E d in b u r g h E H 8 8 B G

T e l : 0 1 3 1 4 6 9 3 8 2 8 F a x : 0 1 3 1 5 2 9 3 6 0 3 e - m a il : x x x x .x x x x x x @ x x x x x x x x x .x x x .x x

(2) Those matters are— (a) public relations, (b) overseas travel, (c) hospitality and entertainment, (d) external consultancy.

(3) As soon as is reasonably practicable after the end of each financial year each listed public body must publish a statement specifying the amount, date, payee and subject matter of any payment made during that financial year which has a value in excess of £25,000.

(4) As soon as is reasonably practicable after the end of each financial year each listed public body must publish a statement specifying the number of individuals (if any) who, during that financial year, received remuneration in excess of £150,000 in relation to service as a member of the listed public body or a member of its staff.

32 Public functions: duty to provide information on exercise of functions (1) As soon as is reasonably practicable after the end of each financial year each listed public body must publish a statement of the steps that it has taken during that financial year— (a) to promote and increase sustainable growth through the exercise of its functions, (b) to improve efficiency, effectiveness and economy in the exercise of its functions.

Therefore under the freedom of information act will you please provide me with the relevent information for the year 2011.

Also, please advise where about you PUBLISH this information and the date it was published.”

Unfortunately, the Council is able to meet only part of your request. The Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 requires public authorities to publish information in relation to their expenditure. Local Authorities such as the City of Edinburgh Council, however, are not amongst the public bodies listed in Schedule 8 who are required to publish this information. In this regard we neither collate nor publish this information in accordance with the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.

The foregoing notwithstanding, I have gathered as much information as possible that corresponds with the requirements of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. Please see the attached response for further details.

As the Council does not hold some of this information in respect of the financial year 2011-2012, this constitutes a formal refusal notice under section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Please note that this letter in general terms constitutes a formal refusal notice under section 16 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

I trust that this is sufficient but please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.

Yours sincerely,

Jody Mackay Senior Legal Support Officer

Your right to seek a review

If you are unhappy with the way we have dealt with your request, you can ask us to review our actions and decisions by writing to the Head of Legal and Administrative Services, The City of Edinburgh Council, Waverley Court Business Centre 3:1, 4, East Market Street, Edinburgh, EH8 8BG or email: [email protected]

Please note that your request must be in a recordable format (email, letter, audio tape etc.), and that you have 40 working days upon receipt of this letter to ask for a review. You will receive a full response to your review request within 20 working days of its receipt. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are not content with the outcome of the review, you can ask the Scottish Information Commissioner to review our decision. You must submit your complaint to the Commissioner within 6 months of receiving our review response. The Commissioner can be contacted at:

The Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner Kinburn Castle Doubledykes Road St Andrews Fife KY16 9DS Telephone: 01334 464610 Fax: 01334 464611 Website www.itspublicknowledge.info E-mail: [email protected] Jody Mackay, Legal and Administrative Services W a v e r l e y C o u r t, L e v e l 3 .1 , 4 E a s t M a rk e t S tr e e t, E d in b u r g h E H 8 8 B G