11^th March 2010

Email response to Mr James-Andrew Houghton

Dear Mr Houghton

Request for Information - Freedom of Information Act 2000

I am writing in respect of your recent enquiry for information held by the Authority under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Please find herewith the following:

Request

Please detail total expenditure by Birmingham City Council on 'Common Purpose' courses for each of the following years: 2008, 2009, and 2010 to date.

Please also supply a copy of the invoice for each Common Purpose course paid for by Birmingham City Council.

Also if it is possible, please include information on how long each delegate who attended the course had been in the employment of Birmingham City council.

Response

Payments made:

Please note we have provided information relating prior 2008 as this information has already been released for a previous request.

Financial Year 2009-10: £8700.00 (amount to date paid so far)

Financial Year 2008 - 9: £6139.38

Financial Year 2007-8: £4964.38

Financial Year 2006-7: £13101.25

Financial Year 2005-6: £3348.75

Financial Year 2004-5: £12901.50

In relation to providing information relating to how long each delegate who attended the course had been in the employment of Birmingham City Council, we would need to carry out a manual search through all the invoices to search their names, as this information is not recorded against our financial system records, and then through their personnel records to find out their employment details. We have estimated that it will cost more than the appropriate limit to consider your request fully. The appropriate limit specified in the regulations is £450.00. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information. Consequently, the Council is not obliged by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to respond to your request.

If you are not satisfied with the response you may ask for an internal review. If subsequently you are not satisfied with the Council's decision you may apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at the following address:

The Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545745

Web Address: www.ico.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Corporate Information Governance Team

Re use of Public Sector Information

The information provided is subject to Birmingham City Council copyright, however, it may be re-used for personal, educational or non-commercial purposes without further reference to the City Council. If the re-use is for other purposes, such as commercial re-use, you should notify the City Council in writing to seek approval or agree terms for re-use. Where Birmingham City Council does not hold the copyright, it has indicated the copyright holder. Permission for re-use should be sought from them directly.

Corporate Governance & Information Directorate Telephone: 0121-303 4876

Corporate Information Governance Team Facsimile: 0121-675 1427

3^rd Floor

1 Lancaster Circus

Birmingham B4 7DQ