council functions

I am out of the office on Friday the 22nd August returning on Monday 1st September 2008
In my abscence you may contact [email address]

Thank you
Helen Sarkies
Customer Services Team Leader

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Good morning Mr Carruthers

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received today. It has been logged under reference 10025.3-180 and passed to the appropriate separate departments. You can expect to receive a reply within 20 working days, being 23 September 2008.

Kind Regards

Local Land Charges
East Cambridgeshire District Council
Tel:01353 616476

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Dear Sir

With reference to your request for information on the total amount paid to Councillors, I list below the details as required

2005/2006 total paid = £152,826.65 number paid = 39
2006/2007 total paid = £158,278.11 number paid = 39
2007/2008 total paid = £176,146.78 number paid = 67*

*2007/2008 was an election year therefore payments had been made to out going Councillors- actual number of councillors =39. This number also includes 11 lay and parish Council Members of the Standards committee.

Members payments are in the public domain and are published after the end of each financial year in the Cambridge Evening News. The details were published this year on 5th June 2008 and I attach a copy

<<MEMBERS PAY FOR PUBLICATION 07-08.xls>>

Regards
Irene Belsham
Payroll Officer
East Cambridgeshire District Council

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Opinions expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the opinions of East Cambridgeshire District Council.

If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender immediately by using the e-mail address or by telephoning (01353 665555 Ext.6497)

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Dear Mr HARDWICKE CARRUTHERS

Further to your Freedom of Information request, I will respond, as far as I can, to the 3 areas listed below:

I would like to know the average proportion of time the elected
representatives of your authority spend as part of their duties for
2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 on their main activities. The
activities that form their duties (employment) as an elected
representative are:

1 directly resolving complaints against the executive (Council
Staff) of the Council by residents; 2 sitting on committee's; 3
acting for the political parties that they represent and/or
ceremonial duties (i.e. all time not spent on sitting on a
Committee or resolving a complaint against the executive);

The total time spent by an elected representative for a Council on
these three activities should be 100 per cent of the time they
spend 'working for a Council' as an elected representative.

There is no requirement for the Council to gather or maintain information on the time that Councillors spend on Council activities. The only very general information we have of this nature was gathered by our Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) on Members Allowances, when undertaking their review of the Council's Members' Allowances Scheme in 2007.

The IRP designed a questionnaire to seek views and to gain information about Councillors' perception of the amount of time involved in carrying out their duties, the job weight and the relative importance of the various standing committees. This questionnaire was circulated to all 39 Councillors and 18 responses were received. In addition, the panel held face-to-face interviews with six Councillors representing a cross-section of the membership and the Chairman of the Standards Committee who is a co-opted Lay Member.

The panel were provided with information on the "job weights" (level of accountability, autonomy, decision making and responsibility) of the various grades of council employee, and the current salary scales for those grades.

Based on these various inputs, the panel concluded that the job weight for a backbencher equated to the "middle manager" or "Principal" grade whose salary lies within scale 10 of the ECDC pay system. The median of this scale is approximately £36,000 per annum. Another approach would be to have taken as comparator the national average white-collar worker salary, which is within £1000 per annum of the figure the panel settled upon.

The results of the questionnaire suggested that on average Councillors commit around 50hr per month (excluding extra responsibilities such as chairing standing committees etc), which equates to approximately 30% FTE, based on a 160 hr month.

The questionnaire gave the average time commitment per month for Committee Chairs as 91 hrs, though this was necessarily based on a rather small sample. This is 40 hrs more per month than the average for back-benchers and represents 25% of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) based on a 160 hr month.

This general information was all contained in the IRP report which was considered by the Council, who used it to make decisions on the level of Members Allowances in July 2007. However, it does not give a breakdown of the time spent on individual activities.

I hope that this general information is of some assistance to you.

Tracy Couper
Principal Democratic Services Officer
East Cambridgeshire District Council
The Grange
Nutholt Lane
Ely CB7 4PL
Telephone: 01353 616278
E mail: [email address]

ECDC Private and Confidential Notice

The information contained in this e-mail is intended for the named recipients only. If you are not the intended recipient you may not copy, distribute or take any action or reliance on it.

Opinions expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the opinions of East Cambridgeshire District Council.

If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender immediately by using the e-mail address or by telephoning (01353 665555 Ext.6497)

Please note that this e-mail has been created in the knowledge that Internet e-mail is not a 100% secure communication medium. We advise that you understand and observe this lack of security when e-mailing us.

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Mr Carruthers

The information you requested concerning Complaints has taken us longer to get than initially envisaged. We will therefore provide a reply with this information by 6 October 2008.

Regards

Peter Ward
Principal Customer Services Officer
East Cambs District Council

[email address]

ECDC Private and Confidential Notice

The information contained in this e-mail is intended for the named recipients only. If you are not the intended recipient you may not copy, distribute or take any action or reliance on it.

Opinions expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the opinions of East Cambridgeshire District Council.

If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender immediately by using the e-mail address or by telephoning (01353 665555 Ext.6497)

Please note that this e-mail has been created in the knowledge that Internet e-mail is not a 100% secure communication medium. We advise that you understand and observe this lack of security when e-mailing us.

Although we have taken steps to ensure that this e-mail and attachments are free from any virus, we advise that in keeping with good computing practice the recipient should ensure that they are actually virus-free.

Good afternoon Mr Carruthers

Unfortunately due to the length and detailed nature of your Freedom of Information request as detailed below, we have been unable to reply within the timescale previously anticipated. We apologise for the delay and will endeavour to forward you a reply as soon as possible.

Kind Regards

Local Land Charges
East Cambridgeshire District Council
Tel:01353 616476

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Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers,

further to Mrs Holmes email of 6 October, I can confirm the following response to your request - detailed to the side or under the relevant paragraphs.

I would point out that the detailed nature of this request / number of officers involved and the previous (and similar request answered under 10025.3-186) have taken many officer hours. Should further / similar requests be received on this topic, then the Council will consider the requests as a series of requests for information on the subject and whether the statutory limit has been exceeded.

Currently, the only remaining information requested under 10025.3-180 relates to staff numbers and payments to the Chief Executive - under paragraph 9 (set out below). Please clarify whether this relates to complaints staff or all staff, as the request is unclear.

In respect of the responses provided, if you disagree with the decision or are otherwise unhappy with how we have dealt with your request in the first instance you may contact me again, and I will arrange for someone to review the decision. Should you remain dissatisfied with the outcome you have a right under s50 of the Freedom of Information Act to appeal against the decision by contacting the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow SK9 5AF, enquiries @ico.gsi.gov.uk.

PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT THE DECLAIMER AT THE END OF YOUR ORIGINAL "WHAT DO THEY KNOW.COM" EMAIL STATES THAT THE INFORMATION PROVIDED WILL BE PUT ON THEIR "WHAT DO THEY KNOW" WEBSITE. THIS WOULD AMOUNT TO A RE-USE OF INFORMATION AND PLEASE NOTE THAT BEFORE DOING SO, AN APPLICANT MUST SPECIFICALLY REQUEST PERMISSION FROM THE COUNCIL, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RELEVANT RE-USE OF PUBLIC SECTOR INFORMATION REGULATIONS 2005 AND THE COUNCIL'S OWN POLICY DOCUMENT / FORM UNDER THE PUBLICATION SCHEME (AVAILABLE VIA THE INTERNET.) SUCH A REQUEST WOULD BE CONSIDERED SEPARATELY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REGULATIONS AND IS NOT AUTOMATIC. THEREFORE NO PERMISSION IS IMPLIED IN THE RE-USE OF THIS INFORMATION, UNTIL SUCH REQUEST TO RE-USE IS MADE AND AGREED, SUBJECT TO ANY APPROPRIATE CONDITIONS. I HAVE ATTACHED A LINK TO THE REGULATIONS FOR EASE OF REFERENCE: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/2005151....

Jeanette Thompson
Head of Legal Services & Monitoring Officer
Tel: (01353) 616372
Fax: (01353) 668803

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Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers - I did not neglect to provide you with the information; the further information requested, was contingent on the Council having "a complaints system not fit for purpose please identify...". As we do not have such a system, the request was not operative.

However, in any event, the response also stated that the information "REGARDING ELECTORAL REGISTRATION / RETURNING OFFICER & HEAD OF PAID SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE VIA THE COUNCIL'S WEBSITE / IN THE COUNCIL'S CONSTITUTION". This information is therefore available to the public/ yourself. It is listed under Part 3(2) "Proper Officer Functions" 3(66) of the Constitution. The Chief Executive covers all the functions specified, as outlined in the Constitution: http://www.eastcambs.gov.uk/docs/policie...

Please therefore identify exactly what issue you wish to have reviewed.

You have also not clarified the staff issues, and therefore I assume you do not wish to proceed with this request.

Jeanette Thompson
Head of Legal Services & Monitoring Officer
Tel: (01353) 616372
Fax: (01353) 668803

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