Statutory requirements

Dear Brenda,

Your enquiry has been logged with the FOI team who will respond to you
in the next 20 working days.

Case reference: 1137442

Kind regards

Laura Thatcher

Somerset Direct
The Deane House
Belvedere Road
TA1 1HE

Tel: 0845 345 9166
Email: [email address]
SMS Text: 07781 482858
Web: www.somerset.gov.uk

Southwest One - working in partnership with Somerset County Council,
Taunton Deane Borough Council & Avon and Somerset Police.
South West One Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number
6373780 Registered office:PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hants
PO6 3AU

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Dear Brenda

Sorry if there is a misunderstanding re your FOI request. This has
indeed been logged with Somerset County Council's Freedom Of Information
Department and will be responded to within the 20 working days as
previously stated under a case number of 1137442. I think the
misunderstanding may because of our address as although we are part of
Somerset County Council our office is based in Taunton Deane as part of
the Southwest One partnership. I hope this explains things.

With kind regards

Jenny Pattenden
Customer Advisor - Somerset Direct

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Tel Number: 0845 345 9166
[email address]

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Taunton Deane Borough Council & Avon and Somerset Police.

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6373780 Registered office:PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hants
PO6 3AU

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Dear Mrs Prentice

I have been informed by Somerset Direct that you made contact with them on
Friday in order to establish the status of the Freedom of Information
request in question.

Due to the size and complexity of this particular request I have had to
pass it to the Corporate Information Governance Team who will be dealing
with this and will be in touch with you soon.

Once again, please accept my apologies for the delays you have experienced
with this. The 20 working day window to provide a response started when we
received the clarification from you on 20/05 which gives us until 16/06 to
respond (although we do realise that the clarification email we sent to
you on 06/04 was not ever received due to an administrative error and that
this is of no fault of your own).

Kindest regards

Rob Forse

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Request for information: April 6^th 2000

Thank you for your most recent request for information concerning the
statutory issues which must be funded by Somerset County Council,

made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.

The FOIA provides that public bodies may apply charges in order to provide
this information ; this is found in the Freedom of Information and Data
Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004, SI 2004 / 3244
(`the Fees Regulations'). If a public body spends more than £450 on
staff time in complying with a request, then charges may be applied; this
figure is based on an hourly rate of £25 over 18 hours.

However, we are happy to respond to your request if you pay the fee as set
out in this notice. The Council has estimated that it will take 47 hours
to meet your request, which comes to £1,175. This charge has been
calculated in accordance with section 13 of the Freedom of Information Act
2000 and the Freedom of Information Fees Regulations.

We are unable to continue processing your request until the fee is paid.
If you wish the Council to continue to process your request you should pay
the fee within 3 calendar months (i.e. by September 8th 2010). If the
department does not receive payment of the fee by this date, I will take
it that you do not wish to pursue this request and will consider the
request closed.

If you narrow the scope of your request, we may be able to provide the
information free of charge because it would cost less than the appropriate
limit to do so. For instance, you may wish to refine your request by being
more specific about what information you particularly wish to obtain,
including any dates or period of time relevant to the information
required.

I also note this current request is now your fourth request for
information since December 31^st 2009. Under section 7 of the FOIA 2000,
public bodies are exempt from responding to repeat requests for
information on a similar theme, and are able to allow a `reasonable period
of time' between responding to requests. If you continue to submit such
requests the Council may limit the number of requests it deals with.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted within two months of the date of receipt of this email, and
should be addressed to:

Peter Grogan
Corporate Information Governance Manager
Information Governance Team
Information, Research and Customer Planning Group
Resources Directorate
A1E County Hall
Taunton
Somerset
TA1 4DY
Direct dial: 01823 - 357175

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

Yours sincerely,

Jon Bazley
Information Governance Team
Information, Research and Customer Planning Group
Resources Directorate
A1E County Hall
Taunton
Somerset
TA1 4DY
Direct dial: 01823 - 357194

This communication is intended solely for the person (s) or organisation
to whom it is addressed. It may
contain privileged and confidential information and if you are not the
intended recipient (s), you must not
copy, distribute or take any action in reliance on it. If you have
received this e-mail in error please notify
the sender and copy the message to [email address]

Individuals are advised that by replying to, or sending an e-mail message
to Somerset County Council, you
accept that you have no explicit or implicit expectation of privacy.

In line with the Surveillance and Monitoring Policy, any e-mail messages
(and attachments) transmitted over
the Councilâ**s network may be subject to scrutiny.

Mrs Prentice,
Thank you for your reply. I am aware of the email that you sent to Rob Forse on June 7th in which you redefined your request to focus on 'community and social care considerations'....and not... 'highways and education and so on'.
The figure of £1,175 is based on 47 hours as I explained before; this is broken down into 37 hours of staff time needed by the Children and Young People's Directorate, and 10 hours of staff time by Adult Social Care from the Community Directorate.
I hope this helps.
Yours sincerely
Jon Bazley

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Dear Mrs Prentice
In my first email to you I explained that the national rate is £25 an hour. This would mean that in order for Adult Social Care (ASK) to comply with your request for information, this would incur a charge of £250 since they estimate this needing 10 hours of staff time.
Yours sincerely
Jon Bazley

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Dear Mrs Prentice

Thank you for your email

I have forwarded your email to Peter Grogan, he will be in contact
shortly.

Kind regards

David Hawken

Customer Advisor
Somerset Direct
Somerset County Council
The Deane House
Belvedere Road
Taunton
TA1 1HE

Tel: 0845 345 9166
Email: [email address]
SMS Text: 07781 482858
Web : www.somerset.gov.uk

Southwest One - working in partnership with Somerset County Council,
Taunton Deane Borough Council & Avon and Somerset Police.
South West One Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number
6373780 Registered office:PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hants
PO6 3AU

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