Dear Sir or Madam,

Please forward totals figures for the following queries:

The number of Council staff who have been absent between July 2004
and November 2008 with stress related illnesses.

The number of complaints of bullying that have been made by
employees against managers or colleagues for the same period.

The number of employees who have claimed constructive dismissal
within the same period.

The number of claims that have been filed against the council at
the Employment Tribunal within the same period.

Yours faithfully,

Paul Cardin

This email receipts your request below.

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Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request below. I have supplied
Council's response alongside your original questions and hope you find the
information of use.

Kind Regards

Jane Corrin

Information Manager

Wirral Council

Council Complaints procedure can be found via this link
[1]http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100004/200...

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Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for your prompt response:

Can you Please confirm the following information:

1) I asked you the number of council staff absent between July 2004
and November 2008 with stress related illnesses. Your response was
to send a spread sheet which did not answer the question. I will
repeat the question: how many staff were absent between July 2004
and November 2008? A total number will suffice.

2) I also asked you the number of complaints of bullying that have
been made by employees against managers or colleagues for the same
period which means in plain English how many people have complained
about bullying from July 2004 to November 2008. I would like the
total figures, not odd numbers for the occasional year. I would
also point out by law you should have the figures from July 2004 to
November 2008. Again I would like the total figures.

I would point out you have a legal obligation to provide the
correct figures.

Your sincerely

Paul Cardin

Yours sincerely,

Paul Cardin

Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your email below.

The spreadsheet sent showed the amount of days lost to the Authority,
per department, in relation to Mental Health Sickness. The way we
record and collate sickness absence figures is in accordance with the
Governments requirement under "Best Value Performance Indicator 12".
The recorded information we hold, which is available to you under
Freedom of Information, is the numbers of days lost, which I sent you on
the spreadsheet.

Just to clarify, Freedom of Information requests relate to recorded
information only. My original reply to you regarding the number of
complaints of bullying that have been made by employees against managers
or colleagues is correct.
Yours sincerely
Jane Corrin
Information Manager

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Dear Sir or Madam,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Wirral Borough
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Statistics for staff members
re: sickness absence through stress, bullying complaints,
constructive dismissal, employment tribunals'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/st...

Yours sincerely,

Paul Cardin

My latest response and the reasons for my request for an internal
review are as follows:

Dear Ms Corrin,

I feel you are being wilfully obstructive and have ignored the
obligation upon public authorities to provide advice and assistance
(Section 16). Please provide the information I have asked for.

Message and responses reproduced below:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please forward totals figures for the following queries:

The number of Council staff who have been absent between July 2004
and November 2008 with stress related illnesses.

The number of complaints of bullying that have been made by
employees against managers or colleagues for the same period.

The number of employees who have claimed constructive dismissal
within the same period.

The number of claims that have been filed against the council at
the Employment Tribunal within the same period.

Yours faithfully,

Paul Cardin

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request below. I have
supplied Council's response alongside your original questions and
hope
you find the information of use.

Kind Regards

Jane Corrin

Information Manager

Wirral Council

Council Complaints procedure can be found via this link
http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100004/200...

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Cardin [mailto:[FOI #4200 email]]
Sent: 16 November 2008 20:55
To: InfoMgr, FinDMT
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Statistics for staff
members
re: sickness absence through stress, bullying complaints,
constructive
dismissal, employment tribunals

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please forward total figures for the following queries:

The number of Council staff who have been absent between July 2004
and
November 2008 with stress related illnesses?

I have attached a spreadsheet which details our figures for the
sickness
absence category mental health. This category includes such sub
categories as stress, anxiety and depression.

The number of complaints of bullying that have been made by
employees
against managers or colleagues for the same period?

2004-2005

Not recorded

2005-2006

Not recorded

2006-2007

3

2007-2008

4

2008-2009

1

The number of employees who have claimed constructive dismissal
within
the same period?

Between July 2004 and November 2008 seven employees have brought
complaints against the Council in the Employment Tribunal of
constructive dismissal.

The number of claims that have been filed against the council at
the
Employment Tribunal within the same period?

During the same period 72 claims were brought against the Council
in the
Employment Tribunal (including equal pay claims).

Yours faithfully,

Paul Cardin

Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for your prompt response:

Can you Please confirm the following information:

1) I asked you the number of council staff absent between July 2004
and November 2008 with stress related illnesses. Your response was
to send a spread sheet which did not answer the question. I will
repeat the question: how many staff were absent between July 2004
and November 2008? A total number will suffice.

2) I also asked you the number of complaints of bullying that have
been made by employees against managers or colleagues for the same
period which means in plain English how many people have complained
about bullying from July 2004 to November 2008. I would like the
total figures, not odd numbers for the occasional year. I would
also point out by law you should have the figures from July 2004 to
November 2008. Again I would like the total figures.

I would point out you have a legal obligation to provide the
correct figures.

Your sincerely

Paul Cardin

Yours sincerely,

Paul Cardin

Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your email below.

The spreadsheet sent showed the amount of days lost to the
Authority,
per department, in relation to Mental Health Sickness. The way we
record and collate sickness absence figures is in accordance with
the
Governments requirement under "Best Value Performance Indicator
12".
The recorded information we hold, which is available to you under
Freedom of Information, is the numbers of days lost, which I sent
you on
the spreadsheet.

Just to clarify, Freedom of Information requests relate to recorded
information only. My original reply to you regarding the number of
complaints of bullying that have been made by employees against
managers
or colleagues is correct.
Yours sincerely
Jane Corrin
Information Manager

This email acknowledges your mail below

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Good Afternoon,
Your request has been passed onto a senior officer of the council who
will review the full history of the request and conduct an internal
review.
Kind Regards
Jane Corrin
Information Manager

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Dear Jane Corrin

On 16 January 2009 you stated that a senior council offical would
review the full history of the request and conduct an internal
review, I am still awaiting your response. Could you please provide
the information I have requested

Thank you for your assistance and full co-operation

Yours sincerely

Paul Cardin

Good Afternoon,
The Council has carried out an internal review and the findings of The
Head of Human Resources are detailed below.
Yours sincerely
Jane Corrin
Information Manager
Wirral Council

Internal Review Findings:-
I have reviewed this matter and can confirm that the information
supplied to Mr. Cardin is in line with the way Wirral records this type
of information.
The information supplied directly related to what Mr Cardin had asked
for in many cases. In regards to his question abut stress, Wirral do not
specifically record stress as a reason, as we include this within a
wider definition for mental health. It would not be possible now to
retrospectively break this down further.
In terms of bullying complaints we do not have records for 2004/05 or
05/06. The Council is not being wilfully obstructive, rather we simply
do not record the data Mr. Cardin wants, in the format he wants it, in
relation to some of his questions.
Ends

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