Date:    05/09/2008

Dear Mr Ellis
         Re: Freedom of Information
Thank you for your request dated 13/08/2008 for the following information:
         5 questions regarding council tax & properties for the three year period 2005-2008.
The information you have requested is held by this authority and can be supplied to you. However you should be aware that the Council's charging policy (that has been produced in accordance with fee regulations for freedom of information) requires us to make a charge for all requests that cost more than £450 to retrieve and supply.
Therefore in accordance with our charging policy, I am writing to advise you that the information you have requested will cost £1,800 to retrieve and supply. A breakdown of how this cost was calculated is shown below:

Estimating the costs of processing requests
When estimating the cost of complying with a written request for Information, the Council will take into account the staff time involved in the following activities:

·         Determining whether the information is held.
·         Locating the information or a document that may contain the information.
·         Retrieving and extracting the information, or a document that may contain the
Information.

The cost of the above activities will be calculated by applying an hourly rate of £25 per person. This hourly rate has been set by Central Government and forms part of the Fees Regulations.

When calculating the costs to process requests, the Council cannot take account of the time taken to consider whether information is exempt under the Act.

FOI Ref:                           911

Applicant Name:          Mr D Ellis

Applicant Address:       [FOI #1763 email]

£

Officer Job title	Revenues Manager
Directorate and department	Revenues and Benefits
Estimated Cost of Research & Retrieval:	1800	Date: 05/09/08
Estimated Cost of Disbursements:	0
Calculation based on:
2 hours staff time to analyse and report on 1 months worth of visits data
2 hours work x 36 months (3 years covered) = 72 72 hours x £25 (in line with FOI charging policy) = £1800 total charge.	Total Hours: 72	Total Charge: £1800

It is possible that we may be able to reduce the above cost by defining the search more thoroughly. If you wish to contact the office to discuss this then please do so.
If you would like to continue with your original request and agree to pay the cost stated above, please send a cheque made payable to Thurrock Council to the address at the top of this letter. Please ensure you enclose the paying slip attached with your payment. If payment is not received within 3 months the Council will have no further obligation to provide you with the information requested.
Please note that your request for the information mentioned above will not continue until full payment has been received and cleared, therefore the 20 working days in which we have to respond to your original request is suspended until payment is received.
If you are unhappy with the Council's decision you can make a complaint via the Council's complaints procedures and this will be looked into. If you are not happy with this decision you may then appeal to the Information Commissioner.
Yours faithfully,

Nadine Cook
Senior Information Management Officer
Telephone (01375) 652590