Freedom of Information Act 2000
Information Request FOI/2008/428
Response
1. I would like to know the average proportion of time the elected representatives of
your authority spend as part of their duties for 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and
2007/2008 on their main activities. The activities that form their duties (employment)
as an elected representative are:
• directly resolving complaints against the executive (Council Staff) of the Council
by residents;
• sitting
on
committee's;
• acting for the political parties that they represent and/or ceremonial duties (i.e.
all time not spent on sitting on a Committee or resolving a complaint against the
executive);
The total time spent by an elected representative for a Council on these three
activities should be 100 per cent of the time they spend 'working for a Council' as an
elected representative.
Mendip District Council does not keep a record of the time spent by elected
members in carrying out their duties for the Council.
This Council does not feel that your assertion that the three points above
accurately reflect the role of a District Councillor is correct and would draw
your attention to the relevant section from the Council’s Constitution which is
attached for your reference and can be accessed via the link below:
http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/CorporateSupport/Constitution%20Se
ction%2003%20Members%20of%20the%20Council.pdf
2. I would additionally like to know how much in total was paid to local councillors to
meet all their duties (including expenses) for 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008
by your authority, and how many elected representatives are (and were)
represented on your authority for these years.
The Number of elected members for each of the years was as follows:
2005/2006
46
2006/2007
46
2007/2008
47 (An additional representative was required
following the Boundary Committee Review in
2006)
Members’ Allowances - Please find attached the Public Notices placed in the local
press for each of the years above.
3. I would also like to know how many Complaints in total were submitted to your
Council in 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 for each year. I would further like
to know how many of these complaints were formally considered by an elected
representative for each of these years.
FOI/2008/428 Response
The number of complaints logged by the Council for each of the three years is as
follows:
2005/2006
16
2006/2007
61
2007/2008
120
The number of complaints considered by a Complaints Panel of Elected Members
2005/2006
5
2006/2007
6
2007/2008
6
4. I would further like to know how many complaints against the Executive (Council
staff) led to the elected representatives formally identifying that the Executive had
acted wrongly for the years 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008, and how many
of these formal determinations by the elected representatives identify that there was
no wrong-doing by the Executive. How many staff employed by your authority in
2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 ceased to be employed by your authority as
a direct result of a complaint against the Executive, and the Councillors identifying
this to be the case.
Year Number
of
Members
Financial compensation
Complaints Panel
of staff
offered
Hearings and
dismissed
outcomes
2005/2006 5 Complaints
None
£2750 in total offered
Panel Hearings
1 Upheld
2 partially upheld
2 not upheld
In all cases
processes and
procedures to be
improved
2006/2007 6
Complaints
None
£350 in total offered
Panel Hearings
2 Partially upheld
4 not upheld
In most cases
processes and
procedures to be
improved
FOI/2008/428 Response
2007/2008 6
Complaints
None
£500 in total offered
Panel Hearings
1 Upheld
3 partially upheld
2 not upheld
In some cases
processes and
procedures to be
improved
5. I would further like to know how much money the Council has paid to a complainant
(i.e. victim of a Council's wrongdoing) through its own complaints system (i.e.
excluding any intervention by the Local Government Ombudsman, Valuation
Tribunal or similar body) in 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008.
Please see response to paragraph 4 above
6. I would like to know how much money either in the form of local settlement or
additional formal finding of maladministration causing injustice the Local
Government Ombudsman has recommended that your Council pay in 2005/2006,
2006/2007 and 2007/2008 (for each year) and if the Local Government
Ombudsman's recommendations have been met in full (including any non-financial
recommendations for each year)). Please detail any recommendation that has not
been met in full and provide a copy of the Elected representatives decision. Please
additionally identify if these costs were met directly by Council Tax Payers or the
Council's insurers (excluding self insurance by a Council).
The number of complaints the Ombudsman received is as follows:
2005/2006 24
2006/2007 25
2007/2008 17 In this year, five complaints were settled locally and
£2,825 was paid in compensation.
All costs were met from the general fund and, therefore, met indirectly by the
Council Tax payers.
7. Finally, please provide details of the financial cost of administering all your
complaints systems (including FoI and DP) by the Executive for 2005/2006,
2006/2007 and 2007/2008 and the number of staff employed in administering
complaints and resolving these (Full time equivalent staffing levels). Please also
provide details of your total administrative costs for 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and
2007/2008 and the total number of staff employed by your authority, as well as any
pay increase (including increments) made to the Council's Chief Executive (Head of
Paid Service) in pounds sterling for each of these years. Please additionally identify
if the Chief Executives wages included performance related payments.
The number of staff employed by the Council is as follows:
2005/2006
207
2006/2007 216
2007/2008
227
FOI/2008/428 Response
Total administrative costs for the Council can be obtained from the Statements of
Accounts which are available on the Council’s website. The links are below for your
convenience:
2005/2006
http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/Statement_of_Accounts_2005_06.pdf
2006/2007
http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/Web/Statement%20of%20Accounts%202006-
07%20FINAL%20WEB.pdf
2007/2008
http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/CorporateSupport/Statement%20of%20Acco
unts%202007-08%20COUNCIL%20APPROVED%20%282%29.pdf
Information relating to the costs of administering the Council’s complaints system is
not held. There are no dedicated officers dealing with the administration of the
Council’s complaints system.
The Chief Executive received the same increments as all other members of staff for
the three years requested above. The salary increases were as per the nationally
negotiated agreements. The Chief Executive does not receive any performance
related pay.
We consider that the amount of the Chief Executive’s salary is exempt under
Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as it is personal data. However,
the salary bands for the three years are as follows:
2005/2006
£74,268 to £90,180
2006/2007
£74,464 to £92,880
2007/2008
£78,356 to £95,179
8. If you do not have this reasonably basic management information related to
complaints and/or identify that the costs of accessing the information requested will
be more than £450 please state this and identify that your Authority does not have
either a functioning or accountable complaints system, and does not maintain any
basic management information related to this issue.
Not applicable – no response required
9. If you have a complaints system not fit for purpose please identify which political
party currently controls your Council, and if this political party has appointed the
current Electoral Registration and Returning Officer through its control of the Council
(with date of their formal appointment). Please name the current Electoral
Registration and Returning Officer, and identify if they are also Head of Paid
Service, and Clerk to your Authority. Please additionally provide any documentation
maintained by your Local Authorities Head of Paid Service identifying that they
personally do not believe it to be appropriate for your Council to have a complaints
system that is fit for purpose. This documentation should be in existence due to the
provisions of s4 of the Local Government
[and Housing ?] Act 1989.
Not applicable – no response required
I would draw your attention to the copyright statement on the reverse of this Response.
Fiona Lyons
Data
Protection
Officer
Date: 22 September 2008
FOI/2008/428 Response
Copyright and the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations
Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of Information Act
2000 requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases the copyright will
be owned by Mendip District Council. The copyright in other information may be
owned by another person or organisation, 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, by publishing the
information or issuing copies to the public will require the permission of the copyright
owner.
For information where the copyright is owned by Mendip District Council please
submit a request in writing stating:-
• Name and address of applicant requiring permission for re-use of the
information
• Full details of the document/information required for re-use sufficient for the
Council to identify it
• The purpose for which the document/information is to be re-used
For information where the copyright is owned by another person or organisation, you
must apply to the copyright owner to obtain their permission.’
FOI/2008/428 Response
