Dear Sir or Madam,

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.

I would additionally like to know how much in total was paid to
local councillors to meet all their duties (including expenses) for
2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 by your authority, and how many
elected representatives are (and were) represented on your
authority for these years.

I would also like to know how many Complaints in total were
submitted to your Council in 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 for
each year. I would further like to know how many of these
complaints were formally considered by an elected representative
for each of these years.

I would further like to know how many complaints against the
Executive (Council staff) led to the elected representatives
formally identifying that the Executive had acted wrongly for the
years 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008, and how many of these
formal determinations by the elected representatives identify that
there was no wrong-doing by the Executive. How many staff employed
by your authority in 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 ceased to
be employed by your authority as a direct result of a complaint
against the Executive, and the Councillors identifying this to be
the case.

I would further like to know how much money the Council has paid to
a complainant (i.e. victim of a Council's wrongdoing) through its
own complaints system (i.e. excluding any intervention by the Local
Government Ombudsman, Valuation Tribunal or similar body) in
2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008.

I would like to know how much money either in the form of local
settlement or additional formal finding of maladministration
causing injustice the Local Government Ombudsman has recommended
that your Council pay in 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 (for
each year) and if the Local Government Ombudsman's recommendations
have been met in full (including any non-financial recommendations
for each year)). Please detail any recommendation that has not been
met in full and provide a copy of the Elected representatives
decision. Please additionally identify if these costs were met
directly by Council Tax Payers or the Council's insurers (excluding
self insurance by a Council)

Finally, please provide details of the financial cost of
administering all your complaints systems (including FoI and DP) by
the Executive for 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 and the number
of staff employed in administering complaints and resolving these
(Full time equivalent staffing levels). Please also provide details
of your total administrative costs for 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and
2007/2008 and the total number of staff employed by your authority,
as well as any pay increase (including increments) made to the
Council's Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service) in pounds sterling
for each of these years. Please additionally identify if the Chief
Executives wages included performance related payments.

If you do not have this reasonably basic management information
related to complaints and/or identify that the costs of accessing
the information requested will be more than £450 please state this
and identify that your Authority does not have either a functioning
or accountable complaints system, and does not maintain any basic
management information related to this issue.

If you have a complaints system not fit for purpose please identify
which political party currently controls your Council, and if this
political party has appointed the current Electoral Registration
and Returning Officer through its control of the Council (with date
of their formal appointment). Please name the current Electoral
Registration and Returning Officer, and identify if they are also
Head of Paid Service, and Clerk to your Authority. Please
additionally provide any documentation maintained by your Local
Authorities Head of Paid Service identifying that they personally
do not believe it to be appropriate for your Council to have a
complaints system that is fit for purpose. This documentation
should be in existence due to the provisions of s4 of the Local
Government Act 1989.

Yours faithfully

Stuart HARDWICKE CARRUTHERS

Following your request for information of 23 August 2008 (with effect from the first working day thereafter), we respond as follows.

(1) 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.

Information not held.

(2) I would additionally like to know how much in total was paid to local councillors to meet all their duties (including expenses) for 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 by your authority, and how many elected representatives are (and were) represented on your authority for these years.

The City of London had 125 elected Members in each of these years. Unlike other authorities, the CoL is not permitted to pay its elected Members out of public funds to meet their public duties. (If Members were to receive any allowances, it would not be from tax payers' money but from the CoL's private funds. For an explanation of the difference please see the CoL's website at www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/finance. The CoL's private funds, ie what the CoL calls 'City's Cash' and in addition the charitable funds the CoL administers, are outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FOIA applies to the CoL as a local authority, police authority and port health authority only, ie functions supported by taxation or, as it is called in the CoL, 'the City Fund'. See also the FOIA, Schedule 1, Part II, paragraph 9).

(3) I would also like to know how many Complaints in total were submitted to your Council in 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 for each year. I would further like to know how many of these complaints were formally considered by an elected representative for each of these years.

The total figures are as follows:-
2005/06 - 797 (of which 623 = Barbican Centre)
2006/07 - 894 (of which 734 = Barbican Centre)
2007/08 - 783 (of which 620 = Barbican Centre)

None of the complaints was considered by elected Members.

Please note The Barbican Centre is one of the world's leading international arts and conference centres. The Centre operates in a highly competitive, customer-orientated commercial environment. It records all the comments, or 'complaints', it receives for the purpose of analysing feedback for service improvement. The Centre receives nearly 800,000 visitors each year, ie the number of 'complaints' equates to less than 1% of the visitors in any one year.

(4)(a) I would further like to know how many complaints against the Executive (Council staff) led to the elected representatives formally identifying that the Executive had acted wrongly for the years 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008.

N/A.

(4)(b) How many of these formal determinations by the elected representatives identify that there was no wrong-doing by the Executive.

N/A.

(4)(c) How many staff employed by your authority in 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 ceased to be employed by your authority as a direct result of a complaint against the Executive, and the Councillors identifying this to be the case.

N/A.

(5) I would further like to know how much money the Council has paid to a complainant (i.e. victim of a Council's wrongdoing) through its own complaints system (i.e. excluding any intervention by the Local Government Ombudsman, Valuation Tribunal or similar body) in 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008.

Nil

(6)(a) I would like to know how much money either in the form of local settlement or additional formal finding of maladministration causing injustice the Local Government Ombudsman has recommended that your Council pay in 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 (for each year)

Nil

(6)(b) If the Local Government Ombudsman's recommendations have been met in full (including any non-financial recommendations for each year).

To the best of our knowledge the answer is yes.

(6)(c) Please detail any recommendation that has not been met in full and provide a copy of the Elected representatives decision.

N/A

(6)(d) Please additionally identify if these costs were met directly by Council Tax Payers or the Council's insurers (excluding self insurance by a Council).

N/A

(7)(a) Finally, please provide details of the financial cost of administering all your complaints systems (including FoI and DP) by the Executive for 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008

Information not held. However, it is estimated that the annual figure is around £29,000.

(7)(b) The number of staff employed in administering complaints and resolving these (Full time equivalent staffing levels).

Information not held. However, it is estimated that across departments approximately nine FTE staff deal with complaints, in addition to their other duties.

(7)(c) Please also provide details of your total administrative costs for 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008

According to our finance department, there is not an equivalent to a company's Profit and Loss Account line 'administrative expenses' (under the gross profit line) and 'administrative costs' does not have any particular meaning for a Local Authority. Nevertheless, the CoL has cost codes for 'administration charges' and general office expenses 'administration costs', which total as follows:-

2005/6 2006/7 2007/8
£2.9M £4.8M £6.6M

Please also refer to the CoL's Statement of Accounts for the years in question (the latest year also provides the previous year for comparison), which provides considerable financial information. They can be found at:
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/finance

(7)(d) The total number of staff employed by your authority [for 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008]

Figures are provided quarterly to the Office of National Statistics for all staff employed by the CoL. These include staff working in both the City Fund & City's Cash areas of activity. By taking the number of staff at the beginning of each financial year, adding it to the number of staff at the end of the financial year, then dividing the total by 2, this provides the following average number of staff in a year:

2005/2006 3993 (3423 Full Time 570 Part Time)
2006/2007 4043 (3413 Full Time 630 Part Time)
2007/2008 4072 (3407 Full Time 665 Part Time)

In accordance with the distinction noted under (2), above, a rough estimate of the split between non-public and public funding of these posts would be 30% & 70% respectively.

(7) (e) Any pay increase (including increments) made to the Council's Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service) in pounds sterling for each of these years.

The CoL's head of paid service is known as the Town Clerk & Chief Executive. The salary range increase for the post was 05/06 2.90%, 06/07 2.80%, 07/08 2.75%. Section 40(2) exemption is applied to disclosure of precise amounts of any payments (please see (7)(f)).

(7)(f) Please additionally identify if the Chief Executives wages included performance related payments.

The salary range for the post was as follows, including London Weighting:

2007/2008 151,080 200,980
2006/2007 151,090 195,710
2005/2006 146,980 190,390

Part of this salary range would be funded by City's Cash. However, in so far as your request does fall within the scope of the FOIA, I confirm that we hold the information but also that we apply the Section 40(2) exemption ('Personal Information'). This is an absolute exemption, ie it is not subject to the public interest test. We consider that to disclose the specific salaries of officers would be contrary to the first principle of the Data Protection Act 1998, 'fair and lawful processing'. The application of this exemption in relation to the information requested is in line with the disclosure guidance drawn up by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in relation to requests for this information about his own staff, and specifically with regard to net salaries and specific information about financial benefits. In accordance with such cases considered by the Information Commissioner and Tribunal we therefore release the salary range for the post. Please note that the post was not subject to a performance-related pay system.

(8) (a) If you have a complaints system not fit for purpose please identify which political party currently controls your Council, and if this political party has appointed the current Electoral Registration and Returning Officer through its control of the Council (with date of their formal appointment).

The CoL considers that it has a complaints system which is fit for purpose. For information, the CoL's elected Members do not represent political parties. There is no party system in the City of London.

(8)(b) Please name the current Electoral Registration and Returning Officer, and identify if they are also Head of Paid Service, and Clerk to your Authority.

Chris Duffield, and he is head of paid service. We do not have a Clerk to the Authority.

We hope that this is helpful. Please note that we are the public authority for "the square mile" only, ie the historic City of London, and not London as a whole. If you wish to make a complaint about the way the CoL has handled your enquiry under the FOIA, please make your complaint in writing to email address: [City of London Corporation request email] (emails sent to which address are seen by four members of staff including the corporate Complaints Officer). For a link to the CoL's FOI complaints procedure, please visit the following page: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/feedback. If, having used the CoL's FOI Complaints Procedure, you are still dissatisfied, you may request the Information Commissioner to investigate. Please contact: Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Telephone: (01625) 545700.

The FOIA applies to the CoL as a local authority, police authority and port health authority. Subject to any other statutory provisions requiring the CoL to disclose information, release of information outside the scope of the FOIA is subject to the discretion of the CoL.

The CoL holds the copyright in this document. The supply of it does not give you a right to re-use it in a way that would infringe that copyright, for example, by making copies, publishing and issuing copies to the public or to any other person. Brief extracts of any of the material may be reproduced under the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (sections 29 and 30) for the purposes of research for non-commercial purposes, private study, criticism, review and news reporting, subject to an acknowledgement of the copyright owner.

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