Agency worker: Agreements, Contracts, pay scales

Dear Mr Blair,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

Your request for information has now been considered, as set out below.
You asked:

:- Contracts or equivalent information/documents

1.1) Copies of any contracts you have for the provision of

temporary worker agency staff, with regards agency/temporary social

care/social worker staff/workers. Contracts you may have with

individual agency staff recruitment businesses/services, hereafter

called 'Vendors'. Or contracts you may have with organisations

like, Comensura, Manpower, Reed, hereafter called 'Managed Service

Provider' who provide Master/Vendor Neutral framework to managed

all vendors on behalf of Public Authorities like yourselves.

The council has a contract with Hays Specialist Recruitment for the
provision of agency staff. The contract began in December 2005 and is for
a term of four years with the option of one further year. he contract is
set up as a master vendor contract. Temporary agency workers may be placed
at the council by other agencies that work as second tier suppliers to
Hays Specialist Recruitment, but these agencies have a contract with Hays
and not the council.

The council also has contracts with other agencies, which are used to fill
vacancies when Hays Specialist Recruitment is unable to. Recruitment
Agencies currently used for social care/social worker staff are: Touch
Recruitment, Selective, Badenoch & Clark, Social Work Line, Blue Group,
Zarak, Synergy and Social Work Associates Ltd.

Your request for copies of these contracts has now been considered and it
is not possible to meet your request. This is because this information is
exempt under Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act, 2000, which is
that disclosure would be likely to be prejudicial to commercial
interests. This exemption applies because these contracts contain
commercially sensitive information relating to the detailed costs, margins
and approach to the work adopted by the recruitment agencies involved, and
so disclosure would be prejudicial to their commercial interests.

It does not appear to be in the public interest to disclose these
contracts. As, whilst there is public interest in disclosing the value
and outline details of the council's main contract for agency staff, this
is met by the council's contract register, which is already in the public
domain, on the council's website:

[1]http://www.merton.gov.uk/working/busines...

This register lists the purposes, values, durations and providers for the
council's main contracts, including the contract for agency staff held by
Hays Specialist Recruitment. However, there appears to be no public
interest in disclosing the details of minor contracts or disclosing the
contracts themselves, which contain commercially sensitive information.
Therefore, it is considered that the public interest favours withholding
the contracts.

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 this communication
acts as a Refusal Notice to providing a copy of the contract the council
has with Hays for the provision of agency staff. I apologise that this
aspect of your request will not be met. You have the right of appeal
against the decision. If you wish to appeal please set out in writing your
grounds of appeal and send to the Information Governance Manager at the
address provided below.

:- Hourly Pay scales/rates with regards agency/temporary social

care/social worker staff.

1.2) A list of each Vendor you use and copies of hourly

pay-scales/rates you hold for each Vendor. Whether or not you use

each Vendor via a Managed Service Provider framework. If you do you

use a Managed Service Provider please also provide a copy of the

pay-scales/rates that are used by the Managed Service Provider to

manage all these Vendors. Please ensure any provided pay-scale

information provided explains how many years of experience is

required to be applicable to any specific hourly rate.

Most social care /social worker agency staff are provided through our
contract with Hays Specialist Recruitment. They may be placed directly by
Hays or by one of the second tier providers who work with Hays. The
council employ agency social care/social worker staff from other agencies,
outside its contract with Hays, when Hays is unable to fill positions.
Recruitment Agencies currently used in such cases are: Touch Recruitment,
Selective, Badenoch & Clark, Social Work Line, Blue Group, Zarak, Synergy
and Social Work Associates Ltd.

A list of pay-scales/rates for each vendor will not be provided as this
information is considered exempt under Section 43 of the Freedom of
Information Act, 2000, which is that disclosure would be likely to be
prejudicial to commercial interests of these vendors.

Whilst it is recognized that it is in the public interest to disclose
information about the pay scales of agency social care /social worker
staff, it is not considered in the public interest to disclose
commercially sensitive information about the pay scales of different
vendors. Therefore, to meet the public interest, anonymised information
about the range of hourly pay received by temporary social care/ social
worker staff (placed through all vendors), is below:

Numbers Highest
Posts Placed Lowest Rate Rate
Social Worker / Social work Assistant 36 20.00 35.50
Assistant Care Manager/ Care Manager 4 21.00 24.00
Carer/ Care Assistant/ Day Care
Assistant 13 6.31 18.00
Residential Care Officer/ Senior
Officer 4 11.20 14.50
Support Assistant/ Worker/ Officer 13 8.82 16.50

(To ensure individual's pay rates are not identifiable, posts, which vary
in experience required and responsibility, have been grouped together in
the table above).

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 this communication
acts as a Refusal Notice to providing copies of hourly pay-scales/rates
for social care staff for each Vendor. I apologise that this aspect of
your request will not be met. You have the right of appeal against the
decision. If you wish to appeal please set out in writing your grounds of
appeal and send to the Information Governance Manager at the address
provided below.

:- Panel Vendor Agreement or equivalent information/documents

1.3 A copy of any contract/agreement used by yourself or any

Managed Service Provider to manage individual Vendors through any

Master/Vendor Neutral framework you operate or participate in, this

is sometimes called a Panel Vendor Agreement.

Not held. We have a master vendor contract with Hays Specialist
Recruitment and Hays has contracts with other agencies, but we do not hold
these contracts.

Please also indicate whether any of the information requested 1.1,

1.2, 1.3 has ever been disclosed before under the FOI Act.

We have not disclosed the information requested above in response to a
previous FOI request.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact me.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact
the Information Governance Manager at The London Borough of Merton, Civic
Centre, London Road, Morden SM4 5DX or e-mail
[Merton Borough Council request email]

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 745
[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Rosalind Girdlestone

Information Governance Officer

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.merton.gov.uk/working/busines...
2. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/

Dear Mr Blair,

Thank you for your email below. I acknowledge your request for a review
into the handling of your recent request for information.

The Information Governance Manager will conduct a review and will
respond to you directly. This review will be completed within 20
working days from the date of your email below. This is in accordance
with the council's complaints procedure, which can be viewed here:
http://www.merton.gov.uk/complaints

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact the Information
Governance Manager at The London Borough of Merton, Civic Centre, London
Road, Morden SM4 5DX or e-mail [Merton Borough Council request email]

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 745
www.ico.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Rosalind Girdlestone
Information Governance Officer

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Dear Mr Blair,

I have concluded my review of our handling of your request.

1) Your request for copies of contracts.

I have reviewed our decision and your appeal is partially upheld. A copy
of the contract with Hays Recruitment is attached but information
relating to the suppliers costing mechanisms has been removed under S43
of the Act - Commercial Interests. I have established that right now 13
temps are employed through 11 agencies outside the contract on an ad-hoc
basis. These agencies are Touch, Southside, Selective, Badenoch & Clark,
Celsias, Pulse, Social Work Line, Bluegroup, Ambition, Zarak and
Synergy. Contracts are not held for these ad-hoc agencies.

2) Payscales information.

Your appeal is partially upheld and a further breakdown is provided. We
do not hold information about requirements for experience relating to
specific rates offered. The specific skills, attributes and budget
available is agreed as part of individual managers negotiation with
Hays. Pay rates provided are not broken down by vendor as we consider
this would be prejudicial to the Commercial Interests of those vendors
and exempt under S43 of the Act.

3) Panel Vendor Agreements.
This information is not held.

4) Previous FOI requests
The information was provided.

You have requested this review without stating the grounds on which you
are challenging the judgements made. If you are dissatisfied with this
review you should contact me in the first instance, stating the specific
grounds upon which you are appealing. You also have a right of appeal to
the Information Commissioner's Office:

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely
Simon Guild

London Borough of Merton
Information Governance Manager (Data Protection)
Telephone: 020 8545 4182
Fax: 020 8543 7126

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