London Borough of Sutton

Chief Executive's Group

Executive Head of Policy & Communications - Gill Bull

Corporate Customer Care Team

Your Ref: Direct Line: 020-8770-5433

My Ref: FoI Ref: ID2045 Fax: 020-8770-5404

e-mail: sandria.lewindon@sutton.gov.uk Date: 16 March 2010

Please reply to:

London Borough of Sutton

Civic Offices

St Nicholas Way

SUTTON

Surrey

SM1 1EA

www.sutton.gov.uk

Minicom 020 8770 5178

DX No 134340 Sutton 11

Please ask for: Sandria Lewindon

δ

Chief Executive

Paul Martin

Enclosed with email:

Mr J Muldoon

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (`FoI') Request dated

15 February, the deadline for which is 15 March 2010. I apologise that this is one day late.

Please note that the system we use to log FoI's is very basic in-house soft-ware installed in 2005 which does not allow us to interrogate it for reports. Due to the current financial climate, it is unlikely that we will be in a position to upgrade our system in the near future.

I have pleasure in enclosing a spreadsheet which gives a breakdown for the year 2009 and January 2010. I have answered your questions below in greater detail:

Your Question 1: Number of FoI requests received each month for 2009 and January 2010

For the January 2010 volume, please see attached spreadsheet.

Your Question 2: LB Sutton's policy on acknowledgement of FoI's

FoI's are acknowledged within 48 hours. The London Borough of Sutton's policy is to acknowledge correspondence within 7 working days.

The second part of your question 2 is covered by your question 3.

Your Question 3: a), b) and c)

Please see attached spread sheet.

Please note we do not break down the information into the number of days detailed in your request. Our information is analysed by 0-7 days, 8-30 days and over 30 days. However, we believe it would now be better to analyse this data as: within 20 days, 20-31 days and 31 days plus, which is how we will analyse this information from January 10.

The Council deem all requests which overran their statutory deadlines as unacceptable and encourage officers to answer requests within the statutory timescale.

Please also note that in the cases when FoI requesters are asked for a) clarification as their requests were unclear or b) for a fee (as defined by the FoI Act 2005) they are given 3 months to respond.

If no response is received within 3 months, these requests are closed. They appear in our `over 30 days' category but have not overrun, but are closed 3 months after receipt.

d) FoI's still awaiting response

Two FoI's are still outstanding for 2009, one received in September and one in December.

An extension to the deadline was requested from each requester as the nature of the individual requests were complex.

Your Question 4:

Please see attached spread sheet.

Your Question 5 Internal Review

Eight FoI requests went to internal review. See below:

Your Question 6 Number of Appeals to the ICO

See attached spreadsheet.

All appeals to the ICO are responded to within the ICO guidelines. The ICO will write to us upon receipt of an enquiry from the requester. Requesters have 20 working days to lodge an enquiry with the ICO after our initial response although they can request such an enquiry whenever they wish.

ICO Enquiry 1: FoI ID1372

6 February 2009 Notification from the ICO that an FoI enquiry to be undertaken

11 February Enquiry acknowledged and ICO advised that all copies of documentation and correspondence will be sent by 10 March

21 May ICO respond to request LB Sutton to answer some aspects of his initial request under the Data Protection Act (Subject Access Request).

ICO Enquiry 2: FoI ID1160

10 February 2009 Notification from the ICO that an EIR enquiry to be undertaken

13 February Enquiry acknowledged and ICO advised that this had been dealt with under the Council's Complaint Procedure (Stage 2). ICO advised that Local Government Ombudsman upheld the Council's response (under Stage 2).

14 August Notification from the ICO that an EIR/FIO enquiry to be undertaken.

18 August 2009-

13 January 2010 Correspondence between the ICO and the London Borough of Sutton ongoing.

No adjudication received to date.

ICO Enquiry 3: FoI ID1366

18 June 2009 Notification from the ICO that an FOI enquiry to be undertaken

30 June-

August 2009 Enquiry acknowledged and ICO advised that this request had been subject to an Internal Appeal and one aspect had been partially upheld. This information was sent to requester after the enquiry to the ICO had been raised.

Further correspondence between ICO and London Borough of Sutton. No adjudication received to date.

ICO Enquiry 4: FoI ID972

26 August 2009 Notification from the ICO that an FOI enquiry to be undertaken

18 September Enquiry acknowledge and ICO given information and documentation.

29 September Further information sent to requester. No adjudication received to date.

If you do not understand the information provided or wish to discuss anything further, please feel free to contact us using the contact number shown above.

Please note all material provided by London Borough of Sutton in response
to your request for information is for your personal, non-commercial use.
London Borough of Sutton reserves all rights in the copyright of the
information provided. Any unauthorised copying or adaptation of the
information without express written confirmation from London Borough of
Sutton may constitute an infringement of copyright. Any intention to
re-use this information commercially may require consent. Please forward
any requests for re-use of information to [email address].

If you are unhappy with the way in which your request has been handled you
may request an internal review. Please notify us in writing as soon as
possible of your request for a review, and the grounds upon which you feel
the appeal is justified. We will acknowledge your request within 7 working days and aim to reply within 20 working days of receiving your request. If it will take longer, we will write to let you know. At the end of the appeal process if you remain unhappy, you may refer to the Information Commissioner. Further guidance is available from their website.

Yours sincerely

Sandria Lewindon

Freedom of Information

Corporate Customer Care Team

Chief Executive's Office

Enclosure: spreadsheet

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