Ref: FOI/1350 Dear Mr Silverman I am writing in response to your Freedom of Information Requests submitted on the 22nd and 25th June 2009 regarding the Leader and Deputy Leaders expenses respectively and your emails dated the 29th of June 2009 amending/extending these requests. For the sake of ease we have collated these requests under 1 matter. As I understand it you were requesting to know: Expenses of the Leader of the Council and Deputy Leader of the Council for 08/09. We can confirm that we hold the information requested. Details of Members’ Allowances are published on our website and made publicly available for inspection pursuant to the Councils Constitution (Part 6) and The Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=15299 As such this information is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) pursuant to S21 of the FOIA which states that information is exempt if it is accessible by other means. To make an appointment and to enquire about the cost of copies I would recommend that you contact Democratic Services. http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=9442&backid=9970 Extended Request to include claims by Officers in respect of Cllr Puddifoot and Cllr Simmonds Unfortunately we are unable to answer this request as our records are not structured in a way as to allow us to easily extract the information you are requesting. S12 of the FOIA states that a Public Authority is not obliged to respond to a request for information under S1 of the FOIA where it estimates that the cost of doing so would 'exceed the appropriate limit'. The 'appropriate limit', as laid down in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004 (the 'Regulations'), is £450 which equates to 18 hours work. We estimate that the cost of searching our records to ascertain whether the information is held and to collate this information would be over the 'appropriate limit' as laid down in the Regulations and as such is exempt under S12 of the FOIA. I would suggest that you consider either clarifying or narrowing down your request, please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any assistance with this. Richard Ingle Freedom of Information Team Legal Services (3E 04) London Borough of Hillingdon Civic Centre High Street Uxbridge UB8 1UW 01895 55(6923) Please note, all material provided by the London Borough of Hillingdon in response to your request for information is for your personal, non-commercial use. The London Borough of Hillingdon reserves all rights in the copyright of the information provided. Any unauthorised copying or adaptation of the information without express written confirmation from The London Borough of Hillingdon will constitute an infringement of copyright. Any intention to re-use this information commercially will require consent. Please forward any requests for re-use of information to the Freedom of Information officer. >>> Peter Silverman 29/06/09 11:51 >>> Dear Sir or Madam, I wish to extend my request to include expenses claimed by Officers in respect of Cllr Simmonds. This would for example include (but not be limited to) restaurant bills, taxis etc where Cllr Puddifoot was accompanied by an Officer. Yours faithfully, Peter Silverman ------------------------------------------------------------------- Please use this email address for all replies to this request: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies: http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/about#officers -------------------------------------------------------------------