Ref No.: 13 24
Request Type: FOI
Date Received: 13/11/24
Date Responded: 11/12/24
Category: Expenses
Request
Can all of the itemised expense claims submitted by Alan Sutherland, the former WICS chief executive, be provided for each financial year they are available. If it can also be confirmed if the expenses were approved or denied.
Response
Many thanks for your request for information dated 13 November 2024 which asked for: all of the itemised expense claims submitted by Alan Sutherland, the former WICS chief executive, be provided for each financial year they are available, and, if it can also be confirmed if the expenses were approved or denied.
We have handled your request in line with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). FOISA provides for a right of access to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities.
We can confirm that our retention policy allows for 6 years of financial data to be retained and are therefore able to provide you with all approved expense claims submitted by the former CEO from October 2018. Please note that not all of these claims relate directly to the former CEO. On occasions the CEO would book and pay for travel or accommodation arrangements for other employees, which he would claim through his expenses.
We disclose the attached information to you in response to your request.
Some information has been redacted under the following exemption within the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA):
- Personal information – section 38(1)(b) in conjunction with section 38(2A)(a) as the information constitutes personal data and to disclose the information would breach one or more of the data protection principles. In this case it has been decided that disclosure would be a breach of the first principle as the information cannot be disclosed lawfully. This is an absolute exemption and does not require consideration of the public interest.
If an expense approver has any queries or concerns about items in an expense claim form, these issues are resolved before any payment is made. This process may involve requesting additional information or making adjustments to the claim form. As a result, all expenses that are paid have been reviewed and approved by the appropriate expense approver. WICS does not retain records of disputed claims or any changes made to claim forms.
If you are unhappy with this response to your request, you may ask us to carry out a review by contacting us. Your request for review should explain why you are dissatisfied and should be made within 40 working days of receipt of this response. The review will be undertaken by staff not involved in the original process and we will reply within 20 working days of receipt.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) and thereafter to the Court of Session on a point of law only. The SIC can be contacted using the details below:
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road
St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Web: www.foi.scot