Benefits paid by EEA countries

Dear Mr Major

 

Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the
Act). This communication is to confirm that your enquiry is being
processed in line with the Council's Access to Information procedures. 
You will receive a more detailed response within the next 20 working days.

 

In acknowledging your request, we believe that it would be helpful to
bring the following to your attention:

 

A high number of requests under the Act is generated by commercial
organisations, the media and researchers, and aimed indiscriminately at
all public authorities. As we process requests strictly in the order by
which they are received, this high volume of business enquiries may
occasionally result in longer than expected response timescales – even if
they appear to be relatively straightforward.  For this reason we would
recommend avoiding the use of the formal Freedom of Information route for
straightforward enquiries that could be answered quickly and easily if you
were to contact the relevant service directly .

 

The Freedom of Information Act does not oblige the Council to complete
surveys, questionnaires and spreadsheets or to undertake research or data
analysis in order to comply with requests. In these cases the council will
endeavour to assist within reason but will always give priority to
providing the services the Council is set up to provide. The Council
acknowledges the right under S.11 of the Act for applicants to express a
preference as to whether to receive information in permanent or digest
form or to inspect the information.  The council will endeavour to comply
with your preference taking into account the practicalities of doing so.

 

The provision of information is also subject to the following conditions:

o That the council holds a record of the information you have asked for;
o That the information is not already in the public domain and
reasonably accessible to you.
o That the enquiry is not a request for advice, personal opinion,
general explanations or anything that would not be on record.
o That the work involved in locating, retrieving, extracting and
collating the information will not exceed the cost limits set out in
the Act; and
o That the information you have requested does not fall under an
exemption set out in the Act.

The Council reserves the right to publish your request and the Council's
response on its website.

 

Please also bear in mind that the Council may ask you to pay for postage
and any substantial amounts of photocopying or reproduction of documents. 
If this is the case, I will let you know.

 

Please address any future correspondence on this matter to me on the above
email address or by writing to the Information Rights Officer, Guildford
Borough Council, Millmead House, Millmead, Guildford GU2 4BB.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Vicki Sygrove

Customer Service Advisor

Business Systems

 

Telephone: 01483 505050 Fax: 01483 444444

 

[1]www.guildford.gov.uk

Guildford Borough Council

Millmead House

Guildford

Surrey GU2 4BB

 

Follow us on Twitter [2]@GuildfordBC

 

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Dear Mr Major

 

Further to your email in December last year, please accept my sincere
apologies for the time it has taken for us to issue our response, which
was due to a member of staff being on long term sick leave. The Council is
also in the process of changing the way it deals with requests made under
the Freedom of Information Act and expects to see some improvements in
timescales as a result of this.

 

Turning to your request, the information you requested is as follows:

 

1.    The total subsidy during 2010/11 was £39,734,765

2.    The Council does not hold information relating to your second
question as it is not required information.

3.    Guildford Borough Council does not hold the information relating to
your third question as it does not make any such claim.  We suspect this
question may be best directed to the Department for Work and Pensions.

4.    Guildford Borough Council does not hold the information relating to
your fourth question as it does not receive such payment.  We suspect this
question may be best directed to the Department for Work and Pensions.

5.    Guildford Borough Council does not hold the information relating to
your fifth question.  We would advise you to redirect your question to the
Department for Work and Pensions.

 

I trust the above information addresses your enquiry but you are welcome
to contact me if you require clarification.  The Council, like most public
authorities, receives a high number of requests from the media and from
commercial organisations for research and for marketing purposes and this
places a considerable burden on the council’s limited resources.  We
apologise if our response has taken longer than you expected as a result
of this.

 

If you are not satisfied with the way your request has been handled you
may write to the Council’s Acting Monitoring Officer: Martyn Brake,
Guildford Borough Council, Millmead House, Millmead, Guildford GU2 4BB.

 

You also have the right, under Section 50 of the Freedom of Information
Act 2000, to ask the Information Commissioner to decide whether your
request has been dealt with in line with the requirements of the Act. His
address is: The Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Vincenzo Ardilio

Information Rights Officer

Business Systems

 

Telephone: 01483 444053

 

www.guildford.gov.uk

Guildford Borough Council

Millmead House

Guildford

Surrey GU2 4BB

 

Follow us on Twitter @GuildfordBC

 

 

     Dear Guildford Borough Council,

    

     This is a request about social security payments, filed

     under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

    

     Please provide the following information:

    

     1. Total amount of money given to Guildford Borough Council by

     central government for payment of benefits

     2. Amount paid out in benefits to individuals from an EEA (European

     Economic Area) country claiming under a reciprocal agreement with

     the UK

     3. Amount claimed back from EEA countries under the reciprocal

     agreement with the UK

     4. Actual amount received back from EEA countries under the

     reciprocal agreement with the UK

     5. Where does the money from EEA countries end up? Is it returned

     to a central pot and redistributed to those seeking benefit, or is

     it used elsewhere?

    

     Yours faithfully,

    

     Ben Major

 

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