If you require this or other information in another format e.g. Braille, audio tape or a different language, please contact the Officer above

ICO Case Ref. FS50232536 - FOI Review CE7-136 - Vicky Gray

Dear Ms Gray

Further to the Council receiving notice from the Information Commissioner's Office on 23 June 2009 regarding your complaint, the Council would like to offer you further assistance in your Freedom of Information Request.

As previously stated, your FOI Request would exceed the appropriate limit of £450 and therefore under Section 12 of the Act the Authority is not obliged to comply with the request and it has decided to continue to refuse to do so. Despite this, the Council's Human Resources Department have compiled some further information. It is hoped that this will aid you in your request. Appendix A of this letter outlines this additional information.

In addition to this, the Council is keen to assist you further and would like to reiterate the fact that since October 2007, the information that you requested is now electronic. As such, should you choose to amend your search to a later time period, then the Council can consider that request.

Should you wish any further information, then please don't hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Huw G Evans

Democratic Services & Complaints Manager

Appendix A

FOI Request & FOI Review by Vicky Gray (CE7-134 & CE7-136)

ICO Case Ref. FS50232536

Original FOI Request from Vicky Gray

1. I would like to know how many employees of the city council have been absent from work due to either stress, anxiety, depression or any combination of those ailments between 1 August 2004 and 31 October 2008.

2. Please also confirm how many complaints of bullying have been made by employees of the council against managers or colleagues during the same period.

3. Please confirm how many employees have claimed constructive dismissal within the same period for bullying/harassment.

4. Please confirm how many claims have been filed against the city council at the Employment Tribunal within the same period for bullying / harassment.

Council's Original Response

The period 1 October 2007 to 31 October 2008 was provided. The period 1 August 2004 to 30 September 2007 was not provided due to the cost threshold outlined under Section 12 of the FOI Act. Explanation also given regarding the introduction of a new computer system

Updated Response

There were 38,362 days lost due to sickness within the City and County of Swansea Council. This information has been obtained from the Council's now defunct AS400 Personnel System.

Sickness was entered on the AS400 system up until October 2007 but employees were not updated. This means that Officers commencing employment and those terminating employment with the Authority are not part of the figures. Therefore, the figures above do not reflect the correct position.

The Council took 8 hours to obtain this information. Clearly, this is not the information requested by Vicky Gray, however the Council needed to carry out this stage prior to progressing to the next stage in order to respond correctly. However, the Council estimates that it would take another 8 hours to obtain the information on actual employees during this period.

1^st October 2007 to 30^th October 2008

There were 698 cases (17993.50 days). These figures have already been passed by Ms Gray as part of the Council's original response.

Questions 2, 3 and 4

The following information in relation to Ms Gray's questions 2, 3 and 4 was extracted from hard copies. It took each of the 6 HR Officer 1.50 hours to obtain.

The Council therefore took 9 hours to obtain the information in relation to questions 2, 3 and 4.

Not all these cases of bullying and harassment were founded.

2. Number of complaints of bullying made by employees of the council against managers or colleagues during the same period.

3. Number of employees that have claimed constructive dismissal within the same period for bullying/harassment.

4. Number of claims filed against the city council at the Employment Tribunal within the same period for bullying / harassment.

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