23 June 2009
Our ref: 1-48065499
John Walker
By email: [email address]
Dear Mr Walker
I am writing in response to your email request for information of 1 June 2009.
Your request is copied below for ease of reference:
“ Please supply:
1. the names and ranks/grades of all employees in your organisation
who are Common Purpose 'graduates'.
2. the total expenditure by your organisation on Common Purpose
courses for each of the years 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002,
2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 to date together with a
copy of the invoice for each Common Purpose course paid for by your
organisation.
By 'Common Purpose', I mean the training organisation of that name:
http://www.commonpurpose.org By Common Purpose 'graduate', I refer
to those people who have passed the advanced Common Purpose
courses.”
I can confirm that we hold information relevant to your request. Please find
attached a table showing the numbers, grades and cost of staff attending
Common Purpose courses for each financial year since the Agency was set
up in 1999. Our policy on disclosure of staff names is to disclose the names
of Executive Directors, but not the names of less senior staff. Most staff who
attended Common Purpose courses were grades 3 or 4. The South West
RDA has 7 grades, with the highest grade being 0 and the lowest grade 6.
Grade 3 staff are usually managers of small teams which may include grade 4
staff who are usually designated advisers. Our FOI Decisions & Appeals
Board has decided that the names of these grade 3 and 4 staff are personal
information and exempt from disclosure under Section 40(2) Personal
Information of the FOI Act. We do not usually disclose names of staff at these
grades, and we believe it would be unfair to the staff concerned for their
names to be released into the public domain. The Board Member who
attended a Common Purpose course is no longer a Board Member at the
South West RDA and we do not have contact details. As we have been
unable to confirm that this name can be disclosed, our view is that the name
of the Board Member is exempt from disclosure under Section 40(2).
However, in line with our policy, I can confirm that Nick Lewis, currently
Interim Executive Director of Operations & Development attended a Common
Purpose course in 2000/01.
You also asked for copies of invoices for Common Purpose courses. I have
checked with our Finance team and they have been able to identify and locate
four invoices which are scanned onto our financial management system.
Before the financial year 2005/06 invoices were not scanned onto our
financial management system, but stored in hard copy in our archives. It has
not been possible to identify, locate and retrieve these hard copy invoices
from our Archives within the appropriate limit of 2.5 days as described in the
Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
The names of individual staff have been redacted from these invoices under
S40(2) of the FOI Act, as these staff were grades 3 or 4.
Please find attached copies of these four invoices.
I hope this information is helpful.
If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your request, or if you
are unhappy with our response, you can appeal via our Freedom of
Information Complaints Procedure, a copy of which is available on request or
on our website at www.southwestrda.org.uk/complaints. If you are still
dissatisfied after following our complaints procedure, then under Section 50 of
the Freedom of Information Act you are entitled to appeal to the Information
Commissioner (Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water
Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, telephone 01625 545700, fax: 01625
524510).
Yours sincerely
Alison McCarthy Information & FOI Officer
Tel: 01392 229585 (direct line)
Email: [email address]
Total number
Grades
Total cost for year
Common Purpose Matrix Programme: South West
attending in
of staff
(not including
RDA details
each year
attending VAT)
2009-2010
None on record
0
n/a
0
2008-2009
1 colleague attended the Common Purpose Matrix
Programme at a cost of £4,225
1
4
£4,225
2007-2008
1 colleague attended Common Purpose Matrix
programme at a cost of £4,200
1
3
£4,200
2006-2007
2 colleagues attended the Common Purpose Matrix
Programme at a cost of £8,150
2
3
4
£8,150
2005-2006
None on record
0
n/a
0
2004-2005
2 staff enrolled on the full Common Purpose Matrix
Programme - Total Cost: £7,900
3
4
1 member of staff on the Plymouth profile course -
Cost: £950
3
4
£8,850
2003-2004
1 member of staff enrolled on the Common Purpose
Matrix Programme - Total Cost: £3,850
1
3
£3,850
2002-2003
3 members of staff enrolled on the Common Purpose
Matrix Programme - Total Cost: £10,350
3
4
4
£10,350
1 Board member on a Common Purpose course - but
invoice never submitted to HR
4
n/a
2001-2002
1 member of staff enrolled on the Common Purpose
Matrix Programme - Total Cost: £2,600
1
4
£2,600
2000-2001
1 member of staff enrolled on the Common Purpose
Matrix Programme - Total Cost: £2,650
4
1 Director on 3 day Common Purpose course - Total
Cost: £1,750
2
1
£4,400
2000-2001
1 colleague attended the Common Purpose Matrix
Programme at a cost of £4200
1
4
£4,200
Total
Overall total cost paid (*excluding Board member
training for which the Agency’s Human Resources
department didn't receive an invoice)
16
£50,825
