Secret report on OIC leadership no closer to being shared

A report on the leadership situation facing Orkney Islands Council (OIC) remains a secret, after the authority refused to release the document.

Five months after chief executive Oliver Reid was suspended, School Place officials and elected members have come under fire for the lack of openness and transparency with the situation at the helm of the authority.

It was on Monday, May 25, that the authority’s top official was removed from his post. Since then, four OIC directors have been taking it in turns to lead the authority.

Internal documents, reported on by The Orcadian in August, suggest that plans for Mr Reid’s “special leave” were made in the week before his removal, seemingly without his knowledge.

OIC is continuing to withhold a document relating to “governance arrangements” which was discussed by councillors and officials behind closed doors at a general meeting in June.

The minutes, only made public this week, provide no information of what was discussed during the private meeting.

The summary simply states: “After consideration of a report by the deputising chief executive, copies of which had been circulated, and after hearing a report from the head of corporate governance, the council: Resolved what action should be taken with regard to governance arrangements.”

The council has previously refused to provide the report to the newspaper, after we made a freedom of information (FOI) request for the document.

After The Orcadian challenged the council’s reasoning, OIC’s top solicitor Gavin Mitchell rather uniquely responded — confirming the report will not be shared.

Mr Mitchell has said releasing the report would “prejudice substantially” the council’s ability to carry out its functions as a public authority.

He said that the document was not for publication, according to the legislation which governs how council meetings are held.

Mr Mitchell said it would be “irrational” if authorities were then compelled to release the same material under the FOI act.

The Orcadian put it to the authority that it had done exactly this in a similar situation within the last 12 months.

Last year, councillors met in private to discuss a damning audit into how payments were made at Orkney Health and Care.

The audit report was exempt from publication, under the local government legislation. After an FOI request from the newspaper, OIC shared the document with some redactions.

However, this previous example has not swayed OIC, which maintains that the report on “governance arrangements” should not be shared with the public.

Mr Mitchell told us: “Both items were heard in private on the grounds that personal information was likely to be disclosed during the course of both discussions.

“However, the amount of personal information contained within the terms of the OHAC audit report was relatively limited, which allowed the council, subsequent to the committee meeting, to exercise its discretion to disclose the report subject to appropriate redactions, without risk of prejudice to the conduct of council business.

“By contrast, the terms of the report at the general meeting on June 30, 2026 are such that, even with redactions of personal information, the disclosure of the report would be likely to prejudice substantially the effective conduct of the council’s public affairs.”

Carole Ewart, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland, said the council had changed its reasoning for withholding the report.

She added: “To substantiate their case they are relying on the information withheld so it is difficult to be certain if the exemptions under FOI law have been correctly applied.

“However, what is clear is the public interest in this case.”

Ms Ewart said that the Scottish Information Commissioner, the FOI watchdog, has seen a huge rise in appeals because the public is “increasingly dissatisfied” with how requests are handled.

“The Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland calls on public bodies to get it right first time and ensure Scotland’s 21 years old enforcement mechanism is not put under extreme strain,” she added.

• The Orcadian will be appealing OIC’s handling of our request for the “governance arrangements” report to the Scottish Information Commissioner.