Aberdeenshire Council breaches FOI code with email warning

The head of education at Aberdeenshire Council warned a firm it could lose out on work after one of its employees put in an FOI request about him.

Vincent Docherty said he would "have to consider another provider" unless he got an explanation from the company.

Legally, all FOI requests have to be treated as "applicant blind" and the information commissioner has ruled Aberdeenshire Council got it wrong.

The council said the email "was not justified" and had been withdrawn.

A Scottish Information Commissioner ruling said Aberdeenshire Council had not complied with the freedom of information code.

Vincent Docherty, head of education at Aberdeenshire Council, "expressed concern" at the FOI request in an email to the applicant's employer

It has ordered the local authority's senior managers to undergo training on not sharing details of requests with third parties and how all FOI requests should be dealt with on an applicant blind basis.

In its ruling, the commissioner said: "The applicant was simply exercising his statutory rights in a perfectly legitimate manner.

"He was entitled to do so without his employer being involved in the process, and without the council linking wholly unrelated matters to the handling of the requests."

A number of FOI requests about Mr Docherty and education director Laurence Findlay were submitted to Aberdeenshire Council in July, 2021.

The requests did not mention the applicant's employer, or suggest he was seeking the information in that capacity, but his employer was known to the council as it provides it with education-related services.

'Seriously compromised trust'

The following month, Mr Docherty emailed the applicant's employer expressing "concern in relation to the behaviour of one of your employees".

Mr Docherty reminded the employer of the work this individual undertook for the council and said his "recent actions have seriously compromised the trust we have in this relationship".

The senior council official added that if he was not offered a "satisfactory explanation" as to why the person did not ask for the information directly from him, instead of submitting an FOI, then "I would seriously have to consider another provider".

The Scottish Information Commissioner described this linkage as "clearly unacceptable" as was, it ruled, the contact with the employer which identified the applicant as an employee of theirs.

In its report, the commissioner said the council had acknowledged the senior officer's email "was not justified" in terms of Scotland's FOI laws and was not good practice.

An Aberdeenshire Council spokeswoman said: "We accept the findings of the Scottish Information Commissioner and can confirm that the matter has been dealt with internally with the requested training having been provided."