Dear Sir/Madam,

I request under the Freedom Of Information Act 2000 the following
and would be grateful for any response.

a) The sum in total, if any, spent on maps, map procurement,
processing and distribution on-line and in paper form during either
financial or calendar year 2006;

b) the proportion or absolute amount, if any, of the sum (a) spent
on licenses or other fees to Ordnance Survey;

c) the proportion or absolute amount, if any, of the sum (a) which
was paid for by council tax;

d) the proportion or absolute amount, if any, of the sum (c) broken
down in to council tax house bands on a per-household basis.

Many thanks.

Yours faithfully,

Jonathan Bennett

Dear Mr Bennett

Thank you for your email. Before I send you a formal acknowledgment and
begin to deal with your request I would be grateful if you would clarify
(c) and (d) on your request below.

(c) Do you mean the amount spent on the items listed in (a) and (b) by
the council tax service? Or are you referring to the amounts paid for
out of council tax revenues?

(d) Because council tax is such a small percentage of the income
received by the council I am not sure that it would be possible to give
a proportion spent on items listed in (a) and (b) broken down into
council tax bands on a per household basis. My understanding is that
the council simply would not hold this kind of data/statistic. If I
have misunderstood your request please let me know.

I am placing your request on hold until I receive your clarification.
In the meantime if you wish to discuss your request, please feel free to
contact me on the number shown below.

Yours sincerely

Vincenzo Ardilio
Information Rights Officer
Guildford Borough Council

Extension: 4053
DDI: (01483) 444053
Mailto:[Guildford Borough Council request email]

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Dear Vincenzo Ardilio,

Sorry for the ambiguity. My request (c) was for the proportion of
the total spend on maps and mapping services that was paid for out
of Council Tax (as opposed to other income sources), and (d) was
how much this would represent on a Council Tax payer's bill
according to their tax band.

Yours sincerely,

Dear Mr Bennett

Thank you for your email - I apologise that it has taken longer than expected to reply. As you made your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the format of this response is formal in order to meet the legal requirements set out in Part 1 of that Act.

Guildford's response to your questions is as follows:

a. It is not possible to provide a definitive total on the amount spent on maps, their procurement and processing during any financial year. This is because the scope of your enquiry is very wide. For example, in addition to obvious map expenditure such as sums paid to Ordnance Survey, the council also buys maps for re sale at its tourist information centres, the council prints leaflets, some of which may include small maps or plans and so on. There is no specific budget for 'maps' expenditure so it is not possible to identify all of the costs caught by your question. Having stated this, I can inform you that the amount paid to Ordnance Survey during the 2006/7 financial year was £20,643.

b. Please see above. It is not possible to identify the proportion specifically spent on licences.

c. The council does not specifically pay for items from council tax income as there are other income sources too. In fact, the council tax represents a very small proportion of the council's income. The council does not hold any information which would identify the proportion or absolute amount, if any, of the sum paid for by council tax;

d. As above the council does not hold this information. Generally, A band D equivalent is used to enable a consistent comparison of taxes to be made but actual expenditure is not allocated against each band.

I trust the above information addresses your questions but you are welcome to contact me if you require clarification. If you are not satisfied with the way your request has been handled you may write to the Council's Monitoring Officer:

Richard Lingard
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
Guildford Borough Council

Extension: 4053
DDI: (01483) 444053
Mailto:[Guildford Borough Council request email]

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