Please provide a breakdown of the costs incurred by SEERA in collecting and collating the results of the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment

clive msusgrove made this Freedom of Information request to South East England Regional Assembly

The request was successful.

From: clive msusgrove

25 February 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please provide a breakdown of the costs incurred by SEERA in
collecting and collating the results of the Gypsy and Traveller
Accommodation Assessment.

Yours faithfully,

Clive Musgrove

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From: clive msusgrove

27 March 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am disappointed that you have so far been unable to comply with
your legal obligation to provide me with a breakdown of the costs
incurred by SEERA in collecting and collating the results of the
Gypsy and Traveller accommodation assessment. This breakdown should
be fairly simple to produce in a reasonably well run organization.
May I remind you that you under the freedom of information act you
are required to respond promptly, and in any case, not more than 20
working days from the initial request.
I am therefore asking for an internal review to be conducted into
why you have failed to comply with the request in a reasonable
timescale.
A subsequent failure to respond will result in a complaint to the
information commissioner

Yours sincerely,

clive msusgrove

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From: Secretariat

27 March 2009

Dear Sir

We are unable to find any record of your original request for
information, which is why we have not replied. For your information, the
Assembly is not covered by the Freedom of Information Act although we
act in an open and transparent way anyway.

Your question refers to Gypsy and Traveller accommodation assessments
which are carried out by local authorities, not the Assembly. You would
need to contact your local council for that information.

If however you require the amount we spent on consultation for the
accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers in the region I will be
happy to provide this.

Yours sincerely

Alistair

Alistair Moses
Communications Manager
South East England Regional Assembly

T: 01483 555 221
M: 07912 999 229
F: 01483 555 250
W: www.southeast-ra.gov.uk
1st Floor Berkeley House
Cross Lanes, Guildford
Surrey, GU1 1UN

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From: clive msusgrove

27 March 2009

Dear Secretariat,

Many thanks for your prompt reply.

I do understand that due to a technicality you are exempt from FOI
requests since notionally, no appointments are made to the assembly
by the crown, a government department, the national assembly for
Wales or a minister.

The assessments are made by local authorities but the requirement
to collect them is driven by SEERA (and ultimately by government).
My question does not relate to how much my local authority is
spending on this activity, it relates to how much SEERA are
spending on this activity.
If the collation of these figures is only a part of a wider spend
by SEERA on research into the accommodation needs of Gypsies and
Travellers in the region then please provide me with the details of
spending on this research.
Yours sincerely,

clive musgrove

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clive msusgrove left an annotation (27 March 2009)

Regional assemblies are apparently not covered by FOI since notionally, no appointments are made to the assembly by the crown, a government department, the national assembly for Wales or a minister.
SEERA have pledged transparency in this matter and have offered to provide me this information regardless.

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From: Secretariat

27 March 2009

Dear Mr Musgrove

The costs for collecting and aggregating the GTAAs is part of our wider work with local authorities and cannot be given a financial value. There is no one person dedicated to this task, nor any record of how long it takes as it is just one of the many tasks we perform.

The consultation costs are not really related - other than the fact the consultation was on the figure that comes from the GTAAs.

The consultation includes a variety of methods (full details available on our website at http://www.southeast-ra.gov.uk/southeast...

The cost is around £133,000 which includes money for councils to hold events, an opinion poll conducted by MORI as well as press adverts. The consultation lasted 12 weeks and covered the whole of the South East.

Best wishes

Alistair

Alistair Moses
Communications Manager
South East England Regional Assembly

T: 01483 555 221
M: 07912 999 229
F: 01483 555 250
W: www.southeast-ra.gov.uk
1st Floor Berkeley House
Cross Lanes, Guildford
Surrey, GU1 1UN

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