Dear Sir,

Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Council's response to the items you have mentioned in the order you have raised them is as follows:

(1) Average time spent by elected members on the activities that form their duties for 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08:

A member's duties are in fact wider than those you define as their main activities and time spent on the activities you define would therefore not add up to 100% of their time. It is not a major activity of a member to resolve complaints against the Executive, although it is of course a function of non-executive members to hold the Executive to account. Complaints generally, whether through the Council's complaints system or via the Local Government Ombudsman, are received through the office and resolved by officers, with reference to members where they are the subject of complaint, or are responsible for the area of activity where a formal investigation is pursued. Acting directly for the political parties that they represent is not something that the Council could measure; acting politically is of course part of member deliberations and could not be separated from time spent at Council or committee meetings. Much of a councillor's time is spent on his or her ward representative role, or as a community champion. In recognition of this, members' allowances have for some years ceased to be based on time spent in committee.

Members have spent no time on resolving complaints against the Executive over the three years in question.

Details of all committee meetings, which members were in attendance and how long the meetings lasted, are available on the Council's website.

The Council does not keep records of how much time members spend on acting for the political parties they represent, has no duty to do so and in any event would find this impossible for the reasons given above.

The only member who spends time on ceremonial duties is the Chairman of the Council. His activities are reported to each Council meeting and details can be seen in Council minutes over the period in question on the Council's website.

(2) How much was paid to members in total for the years 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08:

The Council's 54 members were paid the following in total (basic allowance, special responsibility allowances, travel and subsistence and carers' allowances) for the years in question:

2005/06 - £414,498

2006/07 - £419,611

2007/08 - £440,917

Breakdowns of each type of payment for each member are published annually. These are available in paper form and if you would like copies, please let me have a forwarding address.

(3) Complaints in total submitted to the Council in 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08:

The number of complaints submitted through the authority's complaints system, and those considered by elected representatives, were:

Year No. of Complaints No. Considered by Elected Reps

2005/06 - 144 -

2006/07 - 133 -

2007/08 - 135 -

Number of complaints received via the Local Government Ombudsman:

Year No. of Complaints No. Considered by Elected Reps

2005/06 - 27 -

2006/07 - 29 -

2007/08 - 26 -

(4) Number of Complaints against the Executive (Council staff) leading to elected representatives formally identifying the Executive had acted wrongly; how many staff ceased to be employed by the Council as a result of a complaint against the Executive:

From this question I understand you have defined the Executive as the Council's workforce, as opposed to what is generally understood to be the Executive in a Cabinet and Leader system (ie the Leader and the members he has chosen to act as his Executive). If in fact your earlier references to “the Executive” was intended to refer to the staff, I have to go back to the answer to your first set of questions and dispute that it is one of the Council's major activities to resolve complaints against the Executive. Which ever definition is used, however, the answer to this question is that there were no formal determinations and no staff ceased to be employed as a result of a complaint over this period.

(5) Amounts paid to complainants (excluding in Ombudsman cases) for 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08:

2005/06 - Nil

2006/07 - Nil

2007/08 - Nil

(6) Money paid in formal Ombudsman findings of maladministration or through local settlement of Ombudsman cases for 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08:

2005/06 - Nil

2006/07 - £2,000

2007/08 - Nil

(7) Detail of any Ombudsman recommendation not met in full:

None.

(8) Cost of administering complaints systems, Freedom of Information and Data Protection requirements:

In answer to this enquiry, the costs have been calculated as proportions of the salaries of the staff involved (one full-time and 15% of the time of another) and are as follows:

2005/06 - £29,326

2006/07 - £31,252

2007/08 - £ 33,217

(9) Number of persons employed on administering complaints:

One person full-time (as part of wider duties) and others for any specific information required in particular service areas.

(10) Total administrative costs and total number of staff employed by the authority for 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08:

2005/06 - information not held

2006/07 - £7,707,152.76 (326 staff)

2007/08 - £8,709,406.07 (347 staff)

(11) Pay increase to Chief Executive for 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08:

2005/06 - 3%

2006/07 - 3%

2007/08 - N/A (Chief Executive not in post)

(12) Electoral Registration and Returning Officer:

These positions are held by Trevor Holden, Chief Executive, who is also the Head of Paid Service.

Ian Vargeson, Member Services Manager, Breckland Council

16^th September, 2008.