Mr R requested from Orkney Islands Council (the Council) information relating to Equal Opportunities. He also asked for other information relating to him which does not form part of this Decision. The Council initially failed to respond but later responded to a request for review. It also supplied Mr R with its equal opportunity policy together with statistical information which fell within the scope of his request and an explanation of information held. Following the review, Mr R remained dissatisfied and applied to the Commissioner for a decision.
Following an investigation, the Commissioner found that the Council complied with Part 1 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) in that it was correct to inform Mr R that it did not hold an Equal Opportunities Charter, in keeping with section 17 of FOISA.
However, the Commissioner also found that the Council failed to comply with Part 1 of FOISA, in particular by failing to provide reasonable advice and assistance to Mr R regarding clarification of the request and in line with its duty under section 15 of FOISA. It also failed to comply with Part 1 of FOISA by not responding within the statutory timescales in terms of section 10(1) of FOISA and by failing to carry out a review in line with sections 21(4) and (5) of FOISA within the timescales laid down by section 21(1) of FOISA. He does not require the Council to take any action.
Citations:
[2009] ScotIC 107 – 2009
Links:
Scotland, Information
Updated: 08 September 2022; Ref: scu.434058