consultation costs

Dear Elaine Walton,
Thank you for your email dated 18 May about ContactPoint.
Before I consider your request, I want to be sure that I understand
exactly what you are asking for. You asked; Could you furnish me with
figures for the initial budget of and final cost of ContactPoint*:
Consultation on Draft Information Sharing Index (England) Regulations 2007
and Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment.

Are you asking for the initial budget and final cost of the whole
ContactPoint project, or just the initial budget and final cost of
consulting on the draft ContactPoint regulations and the partial
regulatory impact assessment?

Yours sincerely,

Simon Morrison
Improving Information Sharing and Management Programme
[1]www.dcsf.gov.uk

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0044397.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/

Dear Elaine Walton,
Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 22 May
2009. I am sorry that I have not been able to reply before now.

You requested figures for the initial budget of and final cost of
ContactPoint: Consultation on Draft Information Sharing Index (England)
Regulations 2007 and Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment. I have dealt
with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The consultation on the draft ContactPoint regulations and the partial
Regulatory Impact Assessment took place from 21 September 2006 to 14
December 2006. During the consultation period we hosted events for all
150 local authorities and we sought views, through a series of bi-lateral
meetings, from a wide range of practitioner representative bodies. We also
asked children and young people, through events organised by the
Commission for Social Care Inspection, Triangle and the British Youth
Council, for their views on the draft regulations.

The costs associated with this consultation include:

. Staff costs for preparing the consultation, analysing responses
and compiling and publishing the government response. Some of these staff
were also working on other aspects of the ContactPoint project so it would
be difficult to disaggregate the cost relating solely to the consultation
. Costs of staffing, organising and staging events and meetings -
many of which were not solely arranged to discuss the consultation but
also other issues making it difficult if not impossible to disaggregate
the cost relating solely to the consultation

. Costs incurred by the Commission for Social Care Inspection,
Triangle and the British Youth Council for their events with children and
young people

Following a search of the Department's paper and electronic records, I
have established that the information you have requested is not held by
this Department in the form requested. The expenditure on this
consultation was not contained within its own budget but was drawn from
the general ContactPoint project budget and cannot be disaggregated.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote our reference number (2009/0046198) in any future
communications.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision,
you should write to Paul Roberts, Improving Information Sharing and
Management Programme (IISaM), policy lead, within two calendar months of
the date of this letter.

Paul Roberts,

IISaM Programme

Ground Floor, Sanctuary Buildings,

Great Smith Street

London

SW1P 3BT

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you
have exhausted our complaints/review procedure.

Yours sincerely

Simon Morrison
Improving Information Sharing and Management Programme
[1]www.dcsf.gov.uk

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0046198.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/