functions council

Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers,

I acknowledge your request for information received on 26^th August 2008.
Your request has been passed onto me, as I am the Council's Freedom of
Information officer.

The Council's policy is to release information unless an exemption can be
reasonably applied. The Council will respond within 20 working days by
either releasing the information or letting you know why it cannot release
the information. If for any reason it is not possible to respond within
the 20 days, we will let you know as soon as possible with the date by
which we anticipate we are able to respond.

If appropriate, the information may be provided in paper copy, normal font
size. If you require alternative formats (e.g. language, audio, large
print) then please let me know.

For your information, the Freedom of Information Act defines a number of
exemptions, which may prevent release of the information you have
requested. There will be an assessment of your request and if any of the
exemption categories apply then the information may not be released. You
will be informed if this is the case, including your rights of appeal
against the refusal to disclose the information.

If the information you request concerns a third party then they may be
consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to release the
information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact Ian Colyer,
Freedom of Information Officer, Welwyn Hatfield Council, Council Offices,
The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 6LA, tel 01707 357413, email:
[1][Welwyn Hatfield District Council request email] .

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House, Water Lane

Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Ian Colyer,

Freedom of Information Officer,

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

Find a job online, report streetscene problems, pay bills or find out what
benefits you could claim by visiting [3]www.welhat.gov.uk

The information in this email is intended for the named recipients only.
It may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000. Unless the information is legally exempt from disclosure, the
confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be guaranteed.

If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy, distribute or
take any action or place reliance on any of the contents. If you have
received this email in error, please notify the sender as soon as possible
by using the email address shown and then delete the message.

Please be aware that emails sent to or received from Welwyn Hatfield
Borough Council may be intercepted and read by the Council. Interception
will only occur to ensure compliance with Council policies or procedures
or regulatory obligations, to prevent or deter crime, or for the purposes
of essential maintenance or support of the email service.

Finally, the views expressed in this message are personal and not
necessarily those of the Council.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Welwyn Hatfield District Council request email]
2. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
3. http://www.welhat.gov.uk/
http://www.welhat.gov.uk/

Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers,

Thank you for your Email of 28^th September. I am aware that your request
is overdue but I am still trying to obtain some of the information you
have requested. Due to the various departments that I need to deal with,
this is proving more difficult than I thought. The Council have no
intention of breaking the law but the information you have requested needs
time to collect and prepare a response. I would hope to have a response
with you by 3^rd October 2008.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Colyer,

Freedom of Information Officer,

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

Find a job online, report streetscene problems, pay bills or find out what
benefits you could claim by visiting [1]www.welhat.gov.uk

The information in this email is intended for the named recipients only.
It may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000. Unless the information is legally exempt from disclosure, the
confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be guaranteed.

If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy, distribute or
take any action or place reliance on any of the contents. If you have
received this email in error, please notify the sender as soon as possible
by using the email address shown and then delete the message.

Please be aware that emails sent to or received from Welwyn Hatfield
Borough Council may be intercepted and read by the Council. Interception
will only occur to ensure compliance with Council policies or procedures
or regulatory obligations, to prevent or deter crime, or for the purposes
of essential maintenance or support of the email service.

Finally, the views expressed in this message are personal and not
necessarily those of the Council.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.welhat.gov.uk/
http://www.welhat.gov.uk/

Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers,

Thank you for your request for information received on 24^th August
2008.  Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding but I have
now received responses from the various departments involved and I have
set out below the information you have requested.

The average proportion of time the elected representatives of Welwyn
Hatfield Borough Council spend as part of their duties for 2005/06,
2006/07 and 2007/08?

o Resolving complaints - 10%
o Sitting on Committees - 40%
o Acting for political parties / ceremonial duties - 50%

These figures are our best estimates and would be approximately the same
for each year.

How much in total was paid to local councillors to meet all their duties
in 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08?

o I have attached spreadsheets for these three years.  You should note
that this information is produced annually on the Council's website
[1]www.welhat.gov.uk

How many elected representatives represent Welwyn Hatfield Borough
Council?

o The Council has 48 elected Councillors.

How many complaints in total were submitted to Welwyn Hatfield Borough
Council in 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08?

o For 2005/06 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council did not have a central
monitoring system for complaints.  For 2006/07 the number of
complaints recorded was 361. (For part year only)  For 2007/08 the
number was 847.  Details of the Council's complaint procedures are
available on the website as above.  To access please go to the "Home
Page" then click on "Council and Democracy" at the bottom and then on
"Compliments, Comments and Complaints" on the left hand side of the
page.  To view the Freedom of Information Complaint process go to "
Council and Democracy" and then to "Access to Information" 

How many of these complaints were formally considered by an elected
representative for each of these years?

o   All complaints are now recorded on the central complaint system
(Lagan).  Freedom of Information and Data Protection complaints are
dealt with separately. The Council's complaint procedures are
available as above and as you will see from these elected
representatives do not form part of the procedure.  Elected
representatives are also not involved in the Freedom of Information or
Data Protection complaint procedures.

How many complaints against the Executive (Council staff) led to the
elected representatives formally identifying that the Executive had acted
wrongly for the years 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08?

o  See answer above

How many of these formal determinations by the elected representatives
identify that there was no wrong doing by the Executive?

o  See answer above

How many staff employed by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council in 2005/06,
2006/07 and 2007/08 ceased to be employed by the authority as a direct
result of a complaint against the Executive and the Councillors
identifying this to be the case?

o  There have been no employees that have left the Council during these
years as a direct result of a complaint.

How much money has the Council has paid to a complainant (i.e. victim of
the Council's wrongdoing) through its own complaints system (i.e.
excluding any intervention by the Local Government Ombudsman, Valuation
Tribunal or similar body) in 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08?

o Details of payments for 2007/08 are contained in the Local Government
ombudsman's letter which is attached.  Letters detailing the
information for the 2005/06 and 2006/07 are unfortunately only
available in hard copy.  These can be sent to you if you provide an
address for correspondence.  You may also be able to get these from
the Ombudsman.  The Ombudsman website is www.lgo.org.uk

How much money either in the form of local settlement or additional formal
finding of maladministration causing injustice the Local Government
Ombudsman has recommended the Council pay in 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08?
Have these recommendations 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
representative's decision.  Please additionally identify if these costs
were met directly by Council Tax payers or the Council's insurers
(excluding self insurance by the Council)

o  Please see the answer above for the first part of this question. 
Costs are met by directly by the Council.

Please provide details of the financial cost of administering all
complaints systems (including FOI and DP) by the Executive for 2005/06,
2006/07 and 2007/08 and the number of staff involved in administering
complaints and resolving these (Full time equivalent staffing levels)?

o  It is not possible to assess this cost as this information is
difficult to extract from total cost of administering our Contact
centre.  This is because the Contact Centre deals with all aspects of
customer care and not just complaints.  Complaints form a very small
part of this work.  Full time equivalent staffing levels are
similarly difficult to assess.  Administering the complaints system
for Freedom of Information and Data Protection is estimated to be
approx. £800.  Complaints are rare for these regimes and comprise
less than 40 hours per year.

Please also provide details of all your total administrative costs for
2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08 and the total number of staff employed by
your authority?

o Total administrative costs for these years are not possible to assess
without a detailed assessment of the Councils spending.  They would
also depend on what is termed as Administrative costs. The Council
publishes its accounts on the website and these contain details of the
Council's spending.  These are available by going to "Council and
Democracy" and then "Statement of Accounts".  Details are available
for the periods requested.

Details of 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?

o  2005/06 - 3.0% 2006/07 - 2.95% 2007/08 - 2.48%.  The Chief
Executive does not receive performance related pay.

Please name the current Electoral Registration Officer and Returning
Officer and identify if they are also Head of Paid Service and Clerk to
the authority.

o  Michel Saminaden also Head of Paid Service

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council considers that it has an effective and
efficient complaints system that is fit for purpose. 

I hope this satisfies your request but if you have any queries or concerns
then please contact Ian Colyer, Freedom of Information Officer, Welwyn
Hatfield Council, Council Offices, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, Herts
AL8 6LA, Telephone: 01707 357413, Email: [2][Welwyn Hatfield District Council request email] . I
enclose a copy of the Freedom of Information complaint procedure.

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[3]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Ian Colyer

Freedom of Information Officer

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

 

Find a job online, report streetscene problems, pay bills or find out what
benefits you could claim by visiting [4]www.welhat.gov.uk

The information in this email is intended for the named recipients only.
It may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000. Unless the information is legally exempt from disclosure, the
confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be guaranteed.

If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy, distribute or
take any action or place reliance on any of the contents. If you have
received this email in error, please notify the sender as soon as possible
by using the email address shown and then delete the message.

Please be aware that emails sent to or received from Welwyn Hatfield
Borough Council may be intercepted and read by the Council. Interception
will only occur to ensure compliance with Council policies or procedures
or regulatory obligations, to prevent or deter crime, or for the purposes
of essential maintenance or support of the email service.

Finally, the views expressed in this message are personal and not
necessarily those of the Council.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.welhat.gov.uk/
2. mailto:[Welwyn Hatfield District Council request email]
3. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
4. http://www.welhat.gov.uk/
http://www.welhat.gov.uk/