Enquiries to: Fatima Sharif Ali Your Ref: Our Ref: FOI/FSA/86730

Mr. Julian Todd
Email: [FOI #19446 email]

	Date: 21 December 2009

Dear Mr. Todd,

Re: Freedom of Information Request 86730

I refer to your request for information dated 05 October 2009. I apologise for the delay on getting back to you and your request has been dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Your questions were as follows:

A list of all investigations procured by Liverpool City Council into the operation of Liverpool Direct business and contracts, including the names of the consultants involved, budget, and relevant dates. (This would include any investigations undertaken prior to the signing of this unique contract.)

Copies of all reports relating to the past and future operation of Liverpool Direct available to the Council for reference.

Please find below the response to your enquiry:

1. A “Review of Procurement and Monitoring of Specified Joint Venture Contracts” was carried out by KPMG in 2006 following procurement. This was not an investigation into Liverpool Direct Limited (LDL) but had a wider remit.

2. Liverpool City Council has not commissioned out any investigations into LDL operations or business and contracts.

However, it has been identified that during other investigations into areas of business across Liverpool City Council and others, there have been 175 reports held by Internal Audit and dated back to the period from April 2006.

In order to establish if any of these reports included any aspect of work present or future for LDL individually, we would need to determine the content of each report.

We have estimated that it would take the following amount of time to determine the content and subsequently identifying any LDL issues:-

One officer at an average of 15 minute per report = 175 x 15 = 2652 minutes ÷ 60 = 44 hours

Under section 12 (1) of the FOIA we are not obliged as a public authority to comply with a request of information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit. The FOIA states the appropriate limit is considered 18 hours. On the basis of the above calculation we are not obliged under FOIA to provide this information as the cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit

This concludes the response to your request for information. The City Council will consider appeals, referrals or complaints in respect of your Freedom of Information Act 2000 request under the Have Your Say Scheme. You can either complete a form on-line at our website http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Feedback/Have_your_say/index.asp or you can complete a form at any One Stop Shop or Library. Alternatively, you can write to us at Liverpool Direct, Freepost, NWW 3400A, Liverpool L1 3ZZ. Your complaint/appeal/referral will be investigated by a senior officer within twenty eight days.

If you remain dissatisfied you may also apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision about whether the request for information has been dealt with in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Information Commissioner's website is www.ico.gov.uk and the postal address and telephone numbers are:-

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. Fax number 01625 524 510, DX 20819, Telephone 01625 545745. Email - [email address] (they advise that their email is not secure)

I trust that this satisfies your enquiry.

Yours sincerely

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Ms. Fatima Sharif Ali

Information Officer

Information Team, Legal Services, Municipal Buildings, Dale Street

Liverpool L2 2DH

Telephone 0151 225 3132 Fax 0151 225 2392

Email [email address]