function council

Got your request.
The Act allows us twenty working days in which to respond which gives a due date of 23rd September.
I will of course respond before then if this proves possible. If there is likely to be delay in responding then I will keep you informed with progress on the case.

show quoted sections

I have answered your request by taking the original text and inserting my replies in this in the relevant sections.
I think I have now answered your request in full but please get back to me if you require any further advice or assistance with this matter.

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.

This part of the request cannot be answered, as we have no recorded information to give you, because records are not kept. However I can tell you that in July 2006, members did keep a log of their activities. From this, we reported to the Independent Remuneration Panel, the time spent, and the average for Special Responsibilities was 30 hours a month. The average for ward and general Council duties was 49 hours a month.

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
Spending on our 40 Councillors was as follows:

2005/6 £145,738

2006/7 £188,973

2007/8 £219,569

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.
2005/6 83
2006/7 57
2007/8 31
I would further like to know how many of these
complaints were formally considered by an elected representative
for each of these years.
None
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.
None
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 £110
2006/2007 £10
2007/2008 £315
These payments were not necessarily because of Council wrong doing which include time and trouble payment or refund of fees

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, £500
2006/2007 £19,745
and 2007/2008 £75
(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. Nil
Please additionally identify if these costs were met
directly by Council Tax Payers or the Council's insurers (excluding
self insurance by a Council) Paid by Council Tax

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
No recorded information (Time recording is not carried out so I am unable to provide any further information)
and the number of staff employed in administering complaints and resolving these (Full time equivalent staffing levels).
It is part of the role of one person to do administrative work relating to formal complaints.
It is part of the role of another person to respond to Freedom of Information requests and Data Protection matters. Obviously other staff are also involved as required in assisting to resolve complaints and answer FofI and DP requests
Please also provide details
of your total administrative costs for 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and
2007/2008 A request does not need to be made for this as it's in the public domain this link should take you to the relevant page on our web site
<http://www.midsuffolk.gov.uk/About+your+...>
and the total number of staff employed by your authority,
A simple search of our payroll system comes up with the following figures
31/3/2006 -365
31/3/2007 -461
31/3/2008 - 449
These figures include duplications(where one person has more that one contract, job shares etc.)
The current accurate figure of numbers is 352 full time equivalents and the number of staff actually employed has not varied as much as the above figures would suggest.

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.
£6702 £2640 £6993
Please additionally identify if the Chief
Executives wages included performance related payments.
The first and third years yes for 2006/7 all management team members only received NJC rate increase
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.

Linda Bestow
Corporate Information Officer
131 High Street
Needham Market
IPSWICH
IP6 8DL
01449 724692
[email address]

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