Council payed members of "Common Purpose"

Dear Barnsley Borough Council,

I would like Barnsley Council to provide names of all Council
employees that are members of the group called "Common Purpose".
Previous FOI requests have tied Barnsley Council with "Common
Purpose" and therefore I would like to know the identities of
Council employees that are members and/or have been on courses
relating to "Common Purpose" within the years 2008/2009/2010. A
response with their current position within the council is also be
part of the request.

Secondly, I would like to know what is the reason behind enrolling
council employees on courses run by "Common Purpose" and what
skills do they learn that could benefit the Borough of Barnsley. If
they have certificates/paperwork proving they have gained any
skills, then I would also like the council to reveal those.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Kelly

Dear Wilson , Jane (Borough Sec),

Yes, that is the group "Common Purpose" to which I refer.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Kelly

Dear Wilson , Jane (Borough Sec),

Many Thanks for your reply in regard to my FOI request. As this is
in the interest of the public, I would like you to clarify a few
points:

You note that only ONE person from BMBC has been on a "Training
Course" in 2008, yet receipts obtained from an earlier FOI request,
by another interested party, clearly show MORE THAN ONE person from
BMBC attending their "courses", not only in 2008 but beyond. Could
you explain to me why those persons previously mentioned in said
FOI requests were not mentioned in my request?

Also, please clarify that BMBC therefore does not have anyone
attending any Common Purpose Courses in 2009 and 2010 and has no
plans to send anyone from BMBC in the future.

You state the "Head of Design within our Property and Procurement
Service" attended to gain a "wider understanding of regional
issues". Please elaborate on this point as I am sure the course
would clearly state its agenda. Even better would be a copy of the
full course details.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Kelly

Dear Wilson , Jane (Borough Sec),

Thank you for your response to my FOI request. As this is in the
public interest I would like you to clarify a few points:

You state that only one person has attended Common Purpose courses
from 2008 to present, however previous FOI requests from other
interested parties have revealed more than one person attending
courses revealed by copies of receipts. Please explain why you
failed to inform me within my FOI request.

Taking from your statement that only one person allegedly attended
these courses ONLY in 2008, could you clarify that BMBC does not
now send any member of the council to attend these courses or in
2009/2010? IF they still do, why were they not mentioned in my FOI?

You mentioned that the person in 2008 attended the Common Purpose
course to "gain a wider understanding of regional issues". This
blanket explanation as to the nature of this course is not
acceptable, therefore please expand on this by providing a copy of
the course agenda and also a receipt so the public may see what
percentage of our Council Tax has been spent on said course and
thus make our judgement as to if this money has been wisely spent
and is of a benefit to the Taxpayer or merely to the course
attendee only.

Lastly the person you mentioned was stated as not being a member of
the Common Purpose Group. Please give details of any member of BMBC
that IS a member of Common Purpose.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Kelly

Dear Wilson , Jane (Borough Sec),

Thank you for your response again.

Link to previous requests from other interested party:

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ba...

I appreciate your further investigation into my request as I
believe this is of extreme public interest.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Kelly

Dear Wilson , Jane (Borough Sec),

Thank you for your reply.

You mention payments have been made to Common Purpose in 2008,
2009, 2010. Therefore this seems to be an ongoing payment plan to
Common Purpose [thereafter referred to as CP]. I would request
documents pertaining to payments to CP over this period please.

You mention that BMBC has a "Common Purpose Planning Group". I
would request documents pertaining to these meetings please.

You mention "BMBC have paid via the Work and Skills Board for a
school project run on Governance." Could you elaborate on this via
the provision of documents please.

I have subsequently learned that the Chief Executive and Deputy
Chief Exec of BMBC have attended CP functions/courses via this
minute:

http://applications.barnsley.gov.uk/docs...

Could you please tell me why I was not given access to this
information in my original request.

Thank you for your ongoing help in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Kelly

Dear Wilson , Jane (Borough Sec),

Thank you for your last response. It is now 20 days since your last
contact and I believe adequate time has past to gain the
information you agreed to accumulate.

Please could you update me on your response from the Executive
branch of BMBC regarding my original requests.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Kelly

Dear Wilson , Jane (Borough Sec),

Many Thanks again. I appreciate your help and work. I understand
that others may not be so forthcoming with items of public interest
;)

Yours sincerely,

Mr Kelly

Dear Barnsley Borough Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Barnsley Borough
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Council payed members of
"Common Purpose"'.

In my opinion there seems to be stalling tactics at work here. The
parties involved with getting my information have clearly fallen
behind the timelines set by the Government, therefore I am
instigating this review quite legitimately.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/co...

Yours faithfully,

Mr Kelly

Dear Wilson , Jane (Borough Sec),

As I am waiting most patiently for the BMBC executives to submit
the answers to my legally binding questions, of which are severely
overdue and thus pending an internal enquiry, I would further ask
BMBC if any Barnsley Borough Council Members are on the steering
committee for Common Purpose, considering that such membership of a
CP Steering Committee could constitute a conflict of interest with
their offices?

Yours sincerely,

Mr Kelly

Dear Town Hall,

Thanks for your reply. Please keep me updated on the progress of
the internal review. Also may I point out that I have outstanding
requests made also on the 20th April 2010.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Kelly

Dear Wilson , Jane (Borough Sec),

Hi. I am waiting for an internal enquiry. Could you please update
me on this as I seem to have hit a brick wall on responses. Please
let it be known for the record that I will keep pursuing this and
escalating if necessary.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Kelly