The Glasgow Clyde College (Scotland) Order 2015: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
FOI reference: FOI/17/02105
Date received: 11 September 2017
Date responded: 17 October 2017
Information requested
1. Please supply a copy of the 'Policy Note' prepared by the "Colleges and Young Workforce and SFC Sponsorship Directorate of the Scottish Government, which was circulated to the MSP's and other parties as a background to The Glasgow Clyde College (Removal and Appointment of Board Members) (Scotland) Order 2015 which lists the alleged failings of governance in the Glasgow Clyde College Board of Management at the time.
2. Please advise the role of the person who prepared the policy note?
3. Please supply a full circulation list of all who received this policy note?
4. Please confirm if the views of the GCRB prior to the order being made were sought by the Scottish Government?
5. If so, please supply supporting documents of all correspondence appertaining to the views of the GCRB prior to the order being made?
6. The Education Minister announced on 8th October 2015 the setting up of a ministerial task force group to review the lessons learnt; the committee and the new task group needed to review the full circumstances behind the order: Please provide all relevant recorded information appertaining to this task group review that allowed them to review the full circumstances behind the order.
Response
1. The information you have requested is available from http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2015/348/policy-note/contents. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
2. The answer to your question is that the document was prepared by a member of College Policy Team within the Colleges, Young Workforce and SFC Sponsorship Division within the Scottish Government.
3. I enclose a copy of the circulation list from the Scottish Government at annex B.
4/5. I enclose a copy of all correspondence relating to your question at Annex C.
6. The remit of the Task Group, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, was to consider, among other things, "the lessons that can be learned for government and the wider sector from governance difficulties, including from events at Glasgow Clyde, North Glasgow and Coatbridge colleges, taking note of relevant recommendations from the Public Audit Committee." It was not formed to review the Cabinet Secretary's decision to make an order to remove members from the Glasgow Clyde Board, or her reasons for such action, as set out in the order's policy note. It was rather looking more widely at how to improve governance across the college sector.
Reasons for not providing information
Exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) This applies to some of the information requested because it contains personal data of a third party, i.e. Scottish Government official names below Senior Civil Service and their direct contact details. This information has been redacted throughout the documents which are being released. Disclosing this information would contravene the data protection principles in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
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Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
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