2009/10 Service Charges: Housing Management

Ian McDonald made this Freedom of Information request to Tower Hamlets Homes Limited

The request was partially successful.

From: Ian McDonald

15 January 2011

Dear Tower Hamlets Homes Limited,

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. In order to assist you with this request, I
am outlining my query as specifically as possible.

I request full and comprehensive breakdown of all actual costs
incurred as part of the housing management charge, including staff
and non-staff cost centres, broken down into as much detail as you
hold for 2009/10

Where costs apply to specific blocks and estates, supply this
information, preferably in the details in which you hold it.

This should include, but is not restricted to, how much you pay for
each of “Leaseholder Focus”, “Open Door”, “ASB News”, “Action
Days”, adult education, ASB management, other community engagement,
and third-party reports, where they fall under the Housing
Management charge.

Comprehensive information from the management accounts about all
cost centres and all apportionments which relate to the housing
management charge, housing management staff workload assessments
for the most recent year available.

At the very least, these should apportion the charges as mentioned
on p7 of the “Leaseholder Focus” edition that arrived with the
2008/9 actual service charges. If that information is not
available, you should describe which of the aspects of the service
charge lies behind each cost centre and/or job description.

I would be interested in any information held by your organisation
regarding my request. I understand that I do not have to specify
particular files or documents and that it is the department's
responsibility to provide the information I require. If you need
further clarification, please contact me at this email address.
This request covers all blocks and estates managed by Tower Hamlets
Homes.

I would like to receive the information in open semantic electronic
form. (PDF is not open.)

Please provide tables, particularly very big ones, in an electronic
format that preserves both the machine-readable and human readable
information. Tables, for example, could be in XML, CSV, or Open
Document spreadsheet formats. This should also take less time for
you to prepare: you presumably already have the information on
computers. WhatDoTheyKnow.com lets you upload files. Google
documents offer one way of sharing spreadsheets publicly.

In the long run, I encourage you to provide this data on your
website. Data.gov.uk has information for public bodies about
releasing data:
http://data.gov.uk/resources

If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify
all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I
will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve
the right to appeal your decision to withold any information or to
charge excessive fees.

I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as outlined
by the statute.

Yours faithfully,

Ian McDonald

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From: Shazna Bibi
Tower Hamlets Homes Limited

17 January 2011

Dear Sir/Madam

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Thank you for your email.

Your request is being considered and if the information is held you will
receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20
working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to
the information not being exempt.

If the time taken to meet your request is likely to exceed 18 hours, we
will contact you and ask you amend your request to bring it below this
time limit. We will assist you with suggestions of how this might be
achieved.

I may also contact you if the request needs to be clarified; this is to
ensure that we provide you with the information you require.

Please note that some information you have requested may not be provided
to you; this will only be information that can be withheld by law. In
most cases the reasons will be explained to you along with your copy of
any information that can be released to you.

Yours faithfully,

Shazna Bibi

Information Governance Administrative Assistant

Legal Services

6th Floor

Mulberry Place

London E14 2BG

020 7364 4932

[1][email address]

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References

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1. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[Tower Hamlets Homes Limited request email]

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From: Redouane Serroukh
Tower Hamlets Homes Limited

3 March 2011

Dear Ian McDonald

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000_ IGT_FOI_01_3927- 2009/10 Service Charges:
Housing Management

Your request for information has been considered under the requirements of
the Freedom of Information Act and the information can be found in the
link below.

[1]http://www.towerhamletsfoi.org.uk/docume...

You can also search our Disclosure Log for any specific topics of interest
[2]http://towerhamletsfoi.org.uk/disclosure...

Complete our Customer Satisfation Survey

Tower Hamlets is committed to giving you the best possible service. It is
only by listening to your views that we can find out what we are doing
well and what needs to improve.

We are continuously looking at ways in which to improve our services and
will act on what you tell us.

All of your answers will be treated in strictest confidence. You will not
be able to be identified from any of the information you have provided.
Your contact details are kept separately from the replies on the
questionaire.

Please take the time to complete the online survey by clicking on the
link below :

[3]http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=rw...

If you have any queries please get in touch with me to discuss them. You
might like to know that the Council's website [4]www.towerhamlets.gov.uk
contains a section on the Freedom of Information Act that lists other
publications readily available from the Council under its Publication
Scheme.

Yours faithfully

Redouane Serroukh
Information Governance Officer

London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Mulberry Place
5 Clove Crescent
London E14 2BG

Tel: 020 7364 6570
Email: [5][email address]

Most of the information we provide in response to Freedom of Information
Act 2000 request will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases
the copyright will be owned by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The
copyright in other information may be owned by another person or
organization as indicated in the information itself.

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for
the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example, publishing the information or issuing copies to the public will
require the permission of the copyright holder.

For information where the copyright is owned by the London Borough of
Tower Hamlets, details of the conditions of re-use can be found on our
website at [6]www.towerhamlets.gov.uk.

For information where the copyright is owned by another person or
organization, you must apply to the copyright holder to obtain their
permission.

If you unhappy with this response or wish to complain about any aspect of
the handling of this request please write to:

Corporate Complaints Unit

Tower Hamlets Town Hall

Mulberry Place

5 Clove Crescent

London E14 2BG

If you are subsequently not satisfied with the Council's response to your
complaint you have a right of appeal to the independent Information
Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[7]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Further information about the operation of the act is available from the
council's website [8]www.towerhamlets.gov.uk and the information leaflet
in public reception areas in Council buildings.

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References

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http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=rw...
4. http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
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5. mailto:[email address]
6. http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
7. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
8. http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
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9. http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
10. http://www.census.gov.uk/
11. mailto:[Tower Hamlets Homes Limited request email]

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From: Ian McDonald

23 March 2011

Dear Tower Hamlets Homes Limited,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Tower Hamlets Homes
Limited's handling of my FOI request '2009/10 Service Charges:
Housing Management'.

This request is better than most, in that you replied to it.

But it has simply not answered the question.

I asked for "how much you pay for each of “Leaseholder Focus”,
“Open Door”, “ASB News”, “Action Days”, adult education, ASB
management, other community engagement,
and third-party reports". This information was not given.

I asked "Where costs apply to specific blocks and estates, supply
this information, preferably in the details in which you hold it."
You clearly hold housing management information by block because it
is charged for block management, but this was given as a THH-wide
summary.

I said "you should describe which of the aspects of the service
charge lies behind each cost centre and/or job description", but
your answer was often opaque, using undescribed abbreviations such
as MAAP.

I asked for "staff and non-staff cost centres, broken down into as
much detail as you hold for 2009/10". You did not even break down
line items between staff and non-staff.

No exemptions were claimed for the absent information.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/20...

Yours faithfully,

Ian McDonald

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Ian McDonald left an annotation (23 March 2011)

The most concerning line of this partial answer is that each leaseholder is paying £63.20 a year for their "leasehold account enquiries".

Link to this

From: Robert Wingate
Tower Hamlets Homes Limited

24 March 2011

Dear Mr McDonald

I was sorry to hear of your concerns.

I have passed your complaint to Jill Bell in Legal Services, asking that a
full investigation takes place on my behalf under Stage 3 of the Council's
Complaints Procedure.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Sent of Behalf of

Kevan Collins
Chief Executive

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From: Robert Wingate
Tower Hamlets Homes Limited

27 April 2011

Attachment 1 52649383 s3 management and admin 2009 10 2 2.xls
3.5M Download View as HTML

Dear Mr McDonald

I am writing to confirm Jill Bell, Head of Legal Services (Environment),
has completed an internal review of the handling of your FOI request
regarding 2009/10 Service Charges Costs.

I am able to provide you with a detailed spreadsheet which does give
specifics about individual budget lines and splits between the staff and
non staff costs for the remaining items you have requested. I am attaching
the spreadsheet to this e mail. Please note that the spreadsheet is linked
to other data sources within THH but it will display the
information requested if you select the Don't Update option.

I am unable to provide an answer to some of the specific questions you
have asked like "How much you pay for each of "Leaseholder Focus" etc, due
to the fact that the information is not kept in such a way to permit an
answer to that type of specific question. The requirement under the FOI
Act to provide data only relates to data that exists. However you will be
able to see from the attached spreadsheet how much is spent on items such
as communications.

Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention.

If you are not satisfied with the Council's response to your complaint you
have a right of appeal to the independent Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[1]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Further information about the operation of the act is available from the
council's website [2]www.towerhamlets.gov.uk and the information leaflet
in public reception areas in Council buildings.

Sent on behalf of

Kevan Collins, Chief Executive

by

Robert Wingate
Deputy Corporate Complaints Manager
LBTH
Town Hall
Mulberry Place, Clove Crescent
London E14 2 BG
Tel 020 7364 4148
[3][email address]

P Think environment - do you really need to print this email?

show quoted sections

Please consider your environmental responsibility: Before printing this
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References

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4. http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
5. http://www.census.gov.uk/
6. mailto:[Tower Hamlets Homes Limited request email]

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Things to do with this request

Anyone:
Tower Hamlets Homes Limited only: