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

Thank you for contacting Nottinghamshire County Council. You should
expect a response from us shortly.

Your enquiry is detailed below under the heading 'Enquiry History'.

Please do not reply to this e-mail. If you wish to add anything to
your original enquiry please click on the following link or paste it
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Question Reference #080823-000014

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Thank you for your enquiry. We will respond to you shortly. Please
note the following login, which you may use to check on this and any
future enquiries you may have:
E-mail address: [FOI #2159 email]
Password: aKomRb0I

By clicking the following link or pasting it into your browser you may
view and/or update your details:
http://notts-contact.custhelp.com/cgi-bi...

===============================================================

Recently you sent Nottinghamshire County Council an enquiry. Our
response is detailed below, along with your enquiry, under the heading
'Enquiry History'.

We will assume your enquiry has been resolved if we do not hear from
you within 7 days.

Thank you for contacting us.

Please do not reply to this e-mail. If you wish to add anything to
your original enquiry please click on the following link or paste it
into your Web browser:
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Subject

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Category Level 1: Your Council
Date Created: 23/08/2008 19:40
Last Updated: 26/08/2008 15:30
Status: Waiting

[---001:006188:15801---]

Regards

Philippa Brown
County Contact
Nottinghamshire County Council
01623 476800

Nottinghamshire County Council is not responsible for the content of any external websites and does not endorse any product or organisation contained therein

Good afternoon Mr Carruthers

Please find attached my acknowledgement letter to you.

Regards

Joanna Rawsterne
Corporate Complaints Manager
Chief Executive's Department
Nottinghamshire County Council
Tel: (0115) 977 3096

In Notts? There's only one number to remember: 08449 80 80 80. Nottinghamshire County Council's Customer Service Centre - answering your questions across the county.

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Dear Mr Carruthers

Please find attached my response to your FOI request.

Joanna Rawsterne
Corporate Complaints Manager
Chief Executive's Department
Nottinghamshire County Council
Tel: (0115) 977 3096

E-mails and any attachments from Nottinghamshire County Council are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately by replying to the e-mail, and then delete it without making copies or using it in any other way.

Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of Nottinghamshire County Council unless otherwise specifically stated.

Although any attachments to the message will have been checked for viruses before transmission, you are urged to carry out your own virus check before opening attachments, since the County Council accepts no responsibility for loss or damage caused by software viruses.

Senders and recipients of email should be aware that, under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the contents may have to be disclosed in response to a request.

Nottinghamshire County Council Legal Disclaimer