function council

Freedom of Information Request Reference 2008/1877

Thank you for your request for information.

This will be processed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act
2000.

Yours sincerely

Lee Harris
Information Management Officer

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Link: [1]File-List

Freedom of Information Request Reference 2008/1877

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your request for
information relating to Councillors, complaints and Council functions,
received on 24th August 2008.

Please see the information in response to your questions provided below :-

Question 1 & 2

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 Council does not collect or hold information on the proportion of time
councillors spend on these different activities.

For further information I would like to point you to the national
“census” of councillors conducted by IDeA which provides information
on the number of hours councillors spend on various activities. This will
give national averages drawn from returns which councillors make directly
to IDeA. The survey is not an annual exercise, but is conducted every
couple of years, with the last one having taken place in 2006 – please
see the the following web link for further information:
[2]http://www.lgar.local.gov.uk/lgv/core/pa.... I have been
informed they are in the process of analysing returns from the 2008 census
which will hopefully be published in the next couple of months.

Please find enclosed a copy of paper 99/328 from the former Policy &
Resources Committee. This makes some attempt to quantify the time members
spend on Council duties.

Question 3

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.

There are 60 Members of the Council and have been since the 1990s.

Information on allowances paid to Councillors in 2005/2006, 2006/2007 and
2007/2008 is available on the Council Website via the links below:

[3]http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/i...

[4]http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/i...

[5]http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/i...

Question 4

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.

Total Complaints Received

2005/06 14.146

2006/07 16,253

2007/08 9,450

The above includes all level 1, 2 and 3 complaints. Level 1 complaints are
those dealt with at service delivery. Level 2 are those considered by the
Director of the Service concerned and level 3 are those investigated
independently by the Chief Executive. As part of the Overview and Scrutiny
process an annual report on complaints is prepared for elected members and
formally considered in committee. Elected Members will also deal with
complaints as part of their constituency casework.

Question 5

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.

The number of alleged complaints regarding staff error and attitude are as
follows:

2005/06 1884

2006/07 1956

2007/08 719

Management action is taken where appropriate if it is found that a Council
Officer is at fault. These are considered by elected representatives
during the overview and scrutiny process described above.

No staff have ceased employment with Wandsworth Council as a direct result
of a complaint against the executive for the years 2005/2006 to 2007/2008.

Question 6

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.

The Council has not paid any money to a complainant through its complaints
system for the years 2005/2006 to 2007/2008.

Question 7

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)

2005/06: £2,625 (includes waiving of £500 of legal fees due to the
Council);

2006/07: £37,769 (plus £10,000 to be invested for the further education
of a complainant’s son); and

2007/08: £6,867.65 (includes £500 that complainant chose not to
accept).

All recommendations of the Ombudsman were met in full.

Question 8

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.

Council departments will deal with complaints at level 1 and 2 as part of
routine management and service delivery. It is not therefore possible to
quantify the number of staff and costs involved. The Adult Social Service
Department has its own statutory system. The Corporate Complaints Team,
which primarily considers complaints at level 3, has 1.2 FTE staff.

The total number of staff employed:-

2005/2006 - 3,968

2006/2007 - 3.937

2007/2008 - 3.940

The pay increase (including increments) made to the Council's Chief
Executive:-

2005/2006 - £6,143

2006/2007 - £6,431

2007/2008 - Pay Award not yet settled

The Chief Executive's pay includes performance related payments.

Question 9

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
system that is fit for purpose. This documentation should be in existence
due to the provisions of s4 of the Local Government Act 1989.

Please see link below to the Wandsworth Council website for details of the
complaints process.

[6]http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/Home/Contac...

The current Electoral Registration and Returning Officer is Gerald Jones

I hope this information meets your needs. If you do not understand the
information provided or wish to discuss anything further, please feel free
to contact me and I, or another member of the team will be able to assist
you.

If you are dissatisfied with the decisions made in relation to your
request you may make representations to the Chief Executive.
Correspondence should be addressed to: -

Room 162

Wandsworth Town Hall

Wandsworth High Street

London

SW18 2PU

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: -

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Lee Harris

Information Management Officer

[7][Wandsworth Borough Council request email]

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