functions council

Dear Mr Harwicke Carruthers

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 24/08/2008.

Section 10(1) of the Freedom of Information Act requires that we process your
application within 20 working days of the date we received your request, therefore we
will respond to you by 23/09/2008. If we are unable to meet this deadline we will inform
you of this and the reasons why.

If the information is already available to you through the Council’s publication scheme we
will advise you of this. We will advise you whether we hold the information you have
requested and if you are able to access it. In some cases where exclusions apply we will
not be able to provide you with the information you have requested. If we are unable to
provide the information you request we will contact you and inform you of the reasons

In some cases there may be a charge for the information you have requested. We will
keep charges to a minimum and will inform you as soon as possible of any charges that

If you are unhappy with the Council’s decision you can make a complaint via the
Council's complaints procedures and this will be looked into. If you are not happy with
this decision you may then appeal to the Information Commissioner.

Regards

Rachael Steel
Information Management Officer
Tel: 01375 652592
Email: [email address]

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Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers,

Having discussed you request below with the Information Manager we have come to a decision that your request may be chargeable. There a few key people that I need to speak with to clarify if a charge will be applied and they are on Annual leave until next week, therefore this is a quick message to let you know that I will come back to you early next week with more details of whether a charge will apply and what the figure may be.

Once again thank you for your request and I will be in contact as soon as possible.

Regards

Rachael Steel
Information Management Officer
Tel: 01375 652592
Email: [email address]

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Dear Mr Harwicke Carrathers,

Re: Freedom of Information

Thank you for your request dated 24/08/2008:
At this moment in time we are unable to supply you with the information
you have requested as we would like to clarify some points with you.

Please contact the office as soon as possible to discuss your request or
see my comments made in red next to your questions in blue (see below).
When we are clear on the information you require, we will continue to
process your request for information.

I would further like to know how many of these complaints were formally
considered by an elected representative for each of these years.
Clarification is required - By the term Elected Representative do you
mean Councillor or Council Employee?

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. Clarification is required - Do you wish to know how many
complaints resulted in us identifying the Council had made an error or
hadn't?

The Freedom of Information Act requires that we process your request
within a further 20 working days of the date clarification is provided.
If we are unable to meet this deadline we will inform you of this and the
reasons why.

Regards

Rachael Steel
Information Management Officer
Tel: 01375 652592
Email: [email address]

The information in this e-mail and any attachment(s) are intended to be
confidential and may be legally privileged. Access to and use of its
content by anyone else other than the addressee(s) may be unlawful and
will not be recognised by Thurrock Council for business purposes. If you
have received this message by mistake, please notify the sender
immediately, delete it and do not copy it to anyone else. Thurrock Council
cannot accept any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of this
message as it has been transmitted over a public network.

Any opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of Thurrock Council.

Any attachment(s) to this message has been checked for viruses, but please
rely on your own virus checker and procedures.

Senders and recipients of e-mail should be aware that under the UK Data
Protection and Freedom of Information legislation these contents may have
to be disclosed in response to a request.

All e-mail sent to or from this address will be processed by Thurrock
Council's corporate e-mail system and may be subject to scrutiny by
someone other than the addressee.

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Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers
Re: Freedom of Information
Thank you for your request dated 24/08/2008 for the following information:
Several questions about elected members and the time spent on
their duties as
well as complaints numbers, costs etc.
The information you have requested is held by this authority and can be
supplied to
you. However you should be aware that the Council's charging policy (that
has been
produced in accordance with fee regulations for freedom of information)
requires us to
make a charge for all requests that cost more than £450 to retrieve and
supply.
Therefore in accordance with our charging policy, I am writing to advise
you that the
information you have requested will cost £968.75 to retrieve and supply.
A breakdown of how
this cost was calculated is attached.

<<Fee's Prediction.Calculation Form.doc>>
It is possible that we may be able to reduce the above cost by defining
the search more
thoroughly. If you wish to contact the office to discuss this then please
do so.
If you would like to continue with your original request and agree to pay
the cost stated
above, please send a cheque made payable to Thurrock Council to the
address at the
top of this letter. Please ensure you enclose the paying slip attached
with your
payment. If payment is not received within 3 months the Council will have
no further
obligation to provide you with the information requested.
Please note that your request for the information mentioned above will not
continue until
full payment has been received and cleared, therefore the 20 working days
in which we
have to respond to your original request is suspended until payment is
received.
If you are unhappy with the Council's decision you can make a complaint
via the
Council's complaints procedures and this will be looked into. If you are
not happy with
this decision you may then appeal to the Information Commissioner.

Regards

Rachael Steel
Information Management Officer
Tel: 01375 652592
Email: [email address]

The information in this e-mail and any attachment(s) are intended to be
confidential and may be legally privileged. Access to and use of its
content by anyone else other than the addressee(s) may be unlawful and
will not be recognised by Thurrock Council for business purposes. If you
have received this message by mistake, please notify the sender
immediately, delete it and do not copy it to anyone else. Thurrock Council
cannot accept any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of this
message as it has been transmitted over a public network.

Any opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of Thurrock Council.

Any attachment(s) to this message has been checked for viruses, but please
rely on your own virus checker and procedures.

Senders and recipients of e-mail should be aware that under the UK Data
Protection and Freedom of Information legislation these contents may have
to be disclosed in response to a request.

All e-mail sent to or from this address will be processed by Thurrock
Council's corporate e-mail system and may be subject to scrutiny by
someone other than the addressee.

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I apologise I missed of the payment slip. Please see attached.
<<Payment_Slip.rtf>>
Thanks
Regards

Rachael Steel
Information Management Officer
Tel: 01375 652592
Email: [email address]

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Dear Mr Harwicke Carruthers

Thank you for your Freedom of Information Request.

Parts of the information you have requested are already publicly
available, please see my comments below in Red/Italic/Bold next to each of
your individual items raised.

Some of the information you have requested is held by this authority and
can be supplied to you. However you should be aware that the councils
charging policy (that has been produced in accordance with fee regulations
for freedom of information) requires us to make a charge for all requests
that cost more than £450 to retrieve and supply.

Therefore in accordance with our charging policy, I am writing to advise
you that the information you have requested will cost £2125.00 to
retrieve and supply. A breakdown of how this cost was calculated is
attached.

<<Fee's Prediction.Calculation Form.doc>>
It is possible that we may be able to reduce the above cost by defining
the search more thoroughly. If you wish to contact the office to discuss
this then please do so.

If you would like to continue with your original request and agree to pay
the cost stated above, please send a cheque to The Information Manager
made payable to Thurrock Council, PO Box 1, Civic Offices, New Road, Grays
Essex RM17 6SL. If payment is not received within 3 months the council
will have no further obligation to provide you with the information
requested. Please note that your request for the information mentioned
above will not continue until full payment has been received and cleared,
therefore the 20 working days in which we have to respond to your original
request is suspended until payment is received.

Your queries raised:

1 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; NONE
2 sitting on committee's;
This information can be obtained from our Website, all Committee meetings
agenda's, minutes and attendee's can be obtained through
[1]http://democracy.thurrock.gov.uk/CMISWeb...

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);

Ceremonial duties are only carried out by the Mayor or Deputy. There is no
record kept of how long each individual spends acting for their political
parties.

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.

2 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,

This is publicly available through our Statement of Accounts which are
published annually and can be found on our Website
[2]http://democracy.thurrock.gov.uk/CMISWeb...

and how many elected representatives are (and were) represented on
your authority for these years.
We have a maximum of 49 Elected Representatives which are also detailed on
our Website. There can be an overlap in the number of Councillors (with
regards to allowances) from the start of the Financial Year to the date of
the Elections in May.

3 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.

This information is publicly available through our website and therefore
not subject to the FOI Act 2000. Please see link

[3]http://democracy.thurrock.gov.uk/CMISWeb... Corporate
Complaints figures (not including Social Care or LGO) 2005/2006 = 989.
2006/2007 = 1992. 2007/2008 = 2313.

I would further like to know how many of these complaints were
formally considered by an elected representative for each of these
years.

None of our corporate complaints were formally considered by Elected
Representatives.

4 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.

None. Elected Representative may refer complaints to us for investigation
on behalf of a constituent, but this is not formally identifying any
wrongdoing.

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.

5 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.

Charging letter still applies. Under the act we are only obliged to supply
information that is recorded and there are no estimated figures recorded
on this subject.

6 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) This
information is publicly available through the LGO letters that are
published on the LGO website. Please see link attached.
[4]http://www.lgo.org.uk/letters/2007-08/pd...

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).

Charging letter still applies. Under the act we are only obliged to supply
information that is recorded and there are no estimated figures recorded
on this subject.

7 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.

At Thurrock we have staff working across the whole Council for (i)
Complaints, (ii) FOI and (iii) DP. Request are captured / logged and
tracked on separate systems by various different people from all
directorates.

Complaints - Each complaint is received, logged and tracked. Stage 1 & 2
complaints can be answered by one or two members of staff depending on the
nature of the complaint. Stage 3 complaints are looked at by a member of
staff Independent to the department concerned, this employee can be from
any department or directorate and is a Senior Officer within the
authority, the investigation can take many hours and involves meetings
with the complainant, and any officers involved, reviewing previous
complaints, reviewing files as well as discussions with a head of service
and then preparing reports and findings. Details of how long each
complaint takes to answer is not taken formally recorded at this moment in
time but we are looking into changing this. The important part for the
Council is that the complaint is considered properly and the final reply
is prompt, accurate and fair.

FOI - Each FOI request is received, logged and tracked. Each FOI is
passed to an appropriate co-ordinator to review and forward to the correct
department. The department then consider and gather the reply. This could
involve many officers and many hours - depending on the nature of the
request. The co-ordinator then has to prepare the answer, whether it be a
charging letter, a refusal, a clarification etc. Overall costs are not
held centrally.

DP - Each DP request is received, logged and tracked. Each DP is passed
to an appropriate co-ordinator to review and forward to the correct
department or many departments if a full search of the Council is
required. Each department then consider and gather the reply. This could
involve many officers and many hours - depending on the nature of the
request. The co-ordinator then has to review the material gathered,
redact any third party information and prepare the answer. Often a
meeting is agreed to discuss the findings etc. Overall costs are not held
centrally.

Under the FOI act we are only obliged to supply information that is
recorded and there are no estimated figures recorded on this subject.

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.

8 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.

Please note that our complaints system is one that is fit for purpose, and
this system is considered to be widely known as the market leading
Complaints System within Local Government.

If you still wish to establish which political party controls our Council
and details of the Electoral Registration Officer etc then this is also
publicly available through our website and not subject to the FOI Act
2000. www.thurrock.gov.uk

If you are unhappy with the council's decision you can make a complaint
via the councils complaints procedures and this will be looked into. If
you remain unhappy with the decision you may then appeal to the
Information Commissioner.

Regards

Rachael Steel
Information Management Officer
Tel: 01375 652592
Email: [email address]

The information in this e-mail and any attachment(s) are intended to be
confidential and may be legally privileged. Access to and use of its
content by anyone else other than the addressee(s) may be unlawful and
will not be recognised by Thurrock Council for business purposes. If you
have received this message by mistake, please notify the sender
immediately, delete it and do not copy it to anyone else. Thurrock Council
cannot accept any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of this
message as it has been transmitted over a public network.

Any opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of Thurrock Council.

Any attachment(s) to this message has been checked for viruses, but please
rely on your own virus checker and procedures.

Senders and recipients of e-mail should be aware that under the UK Data
Protection and Freedom of Information legislation these contents may have
to be disclosed in response to a request.

All e-mail sent to or from this address will be processed by Thurrock
Council's corporate e-mail system and may be subject to scrutiny by
someone other than the addressee.

show quoted sections