Tower Hamlets Homes Consultants

Muhammed Iqbal made this Freedom of Information request to Tower Hamlets Borough Council

The request was partially successful.

From: Muhammed Iqbal

9 June 2010

Dear Tower Hamlets Borough Council,

I would like a breakdown of figures with regards to consultants
employed/engaged through 'Tower Hamlets Home' since the inception
of the ALMO.

1. Please list the amount so far overall that Tower Hamlets Homes
have paid out employing consultants?

2. Please list month by month (since their inception) the amount
payed out by Tower Hamlets Homes employing consultants?.

3. Please list month by month (since their inception)the amounts
payed out, naming each consultancy company, ie; 'Pinnacle' etc, and
their share of that months consultancy fees.

4. Please list (since their inception)the lowest daily fees, and
the highest daily fees paid out for individual consultants.

5. Please list month by month (since their inception)the amount of
consultants employed within Tower Hamlets Homes, and the amount of
days overall that were paid out. (example; March 2009: 23
consultants - 105 days)

6. Please list how many former consultants/employees of 'Pinnacle'
engaged in consultancy roles by Tower Hamlets Homes are now
employed in Full-time positions within the ALMO. (ie; are now not
employed by 'Pinnacle' and are now Tower Hamlets Homes staff)

7. I would like to know how many meetings were had with 'Barbara
Brownlee' Director of Consultancy at Pinnacle psg, before any
engagement in her new role of Director of Housing and Customer
Services at Tower Hamlets Homes. (please list dates)

8. How & where was the post; "Director of Housing and Customer
Services at Tower Hamlets Homes" advertised for vacancy?

9. How many people applied for, and ultimately interviewed for the
role of; Director of Housing and Customer Services at Tower Hamlets
Homes, before 'Barbara Brownlee' successfully won the job? (please
divide this down into figures for both applicants & interviewees)

10. Who took on the process for wittling down the applicants, and
judging their suitability? Was it an outside organisation? Who
interviewed her?

If any of these request break any of the clauses within any ACT
(for instance the Freedom of Information Act or the Data Protection
Act) before you refuse the request outright could you please offer
me some advice of ways in which i can revise the request. So that
it may come in line, and not be refused?

Yours faithfully,

Muhammed Iqbal

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From: Jane L Jones
Tower Hamlets Borough Council

10 June 2010

Dear Sir/Madam

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Thank you for your email.

Your request is being considered and if the information is held you will
receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20
working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to
the information not being exempt.

If the time taken to meet your request is likely to exceed 18 hours, we
will contact you and ask you amend your request to bring it below this
time limit. We will assist you with suggestions of how this might be
achieved.

I may also contact you if the request needs to be clarified; this is to
ensure that we provide you with the information you require.

Please note that some information you have requested may not be provided
to you; this will only be information that can be withheld by law. In
most cases the reasons will be explained to you along with your copy of
any information that can be released to you.

Yours faithfully,

Jane Jones

Information Governance Administrative Officer

Legal Services

6th Floor

Mulberry Place

London E14 2BG

0207 364 4736

[1][email address]

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From: Muhammed Iqbal

12 July 2010

Dear Jane L Jones,

You have failed to respond promptly to my request by 7 July 2010,
which at this time is 4 working days overdue (Monday 12 July 2009).

Since you also never asked for clarification of my request or even
to instruct me in ways in which I could revise my request so that
it came under the constraints laid out by the FOI Act ie; under 18
hours, or £450, or even just extended time. All of these responses
and ways of dealing with a request are permissable under the terms
of the Act. By not dealing with this request in this way, you have
admitted that you fully understand the nature of the request, that
the information is retrievable, that the information will now be
published without any redactions.

Any other replies to the contrary or refusing this request in its
entirety or any such part thereof will be in direct contravention
of the Freedom Of Information Act, as you did not respond within
the 20 working day time limit, either asking for clarification,
revision, or extension, all of which would have extended the 20
working day restriction.

I now await your response as soon as possible, with a full and
frank disclosure of all materials requested without any hinderance.
As you are now at the moment actually breaking the Law, I would
remind you that any delay is now totally unacceptable, and that
legally you have now gone past the point of refusing this request
in any way whatsoever, or for any reason.

I'm sorry, but I cannot understand why you are ignoring the request
in this way. The stress I feel with regards to the way this is
being handled is something I should not have to deal with, and feel
abused by the system that is supposed to protect and reassure
citizens of this country. I cannot understand why you would want to
flagrantly disregard one of the fundamental transparency laws of
this country, and that you feel that abusing a citizens trust in
the system, is nothing of any concern to this council.

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

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From: Muhammed Iqbal

16 July 2010

Dear Jane L Jones,

Why Are you ignoring me in this way?

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

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From: Tim Rodgers
Tower Hamlets Borough Council

19 July 2010

Dear Mr Iqbal,

I am sorry for the delay in responding. I've been advised that
officers are collating the material, and I hope to provide this to
you during this week. I realise that this exceeds the statutory
timeframe, however we will reply as soon as we can.

Thanks, Tim Rodgers Information Governance Manager

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From: Muhammed Iqbal

2 August 2010

Dear Tim Rodgers,

Your last email told me that you would respond by the end of the
week, that was nearly two weeks ago.

This response is now 19 working days late. Why do you keep ignoring
me in this way?

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

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From: Tim Rodgers
Tower Hamlets Borough Council

3 August 2010

Mr Iqbal,

It is certainly not the case that your request is being ignored. I have spoken again with officers at Tower Hamlets Homes who are working on your questions. Clearly the time taken is regrettable, and I have asked for an interim response if the other questions require further time to work on.

You may be aware that we have answered another FOI request on Pinnacle recently which I will reproduce here:

How much money has THH spent on Pinnacle Consulting as a cumulative figure over the course of THH's existence? Also by financial year, to see the trend?

What is the day rate of the highest paid consultant?"

The services received from Pinnacle Consulting amounted to £124,895 in the 2008/2009 financial year and £127,072.80 in the 2009/2010 financial year.

In the 2010/2011 financial year to date (up to the end of June 2010) no expenditure has been incurred from Pinnacle Consulting.

The highest Pinnacle consultant rate was £400.00 per day

Thanks,
Tim Rodgers
Information Governance Manager
Legal Services
Chief Executives Department
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Phone: 0207 364 4354
[mobile number]
Fax: 0207 364 4804
E-mail: [email address]
Website: http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk
6th Floor, Town Hall, 5 Mulberry Place,
London E14 2BG

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From: Muhammed Iqbal

10 August 2010

Dear Tim Rodgers,

Please could you advise me now what to do, you have ignored my
request, without confirming or denying whether you have the
information. Further you have provided no valid reason underneath
the terms of the Act, why you would be refusing this request,
within the 20 working day time limit.

This request is now over 45 working days late, without any response
from yourselves with regards to the request itself. You have not
asked for more time, but you still just blatantly disregard the
requirements of the Act itself. This request was a simple one, and
the bare fact that now you have provided me with the response to
someone elses request is in my opinion a huge insult to my self.

As the Information Governance Officer Manager, you should know
better than to treat members of the public in this way, and I feel
highly agrieved at the whole situation.

Please could you contact me now as soon as possible and let me know
what exactly is going on?

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

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From: Jane L Jones
Tower Hamlets Borough Council

11 August 2010

Attachment IGT FOI 6 3098 Tower Hamlets Homes Consultants.pdf
20K Download View as HTML

Dear Sir/Madam

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - IGT_FOI_06_3099 - Tower Hamlets Homes
Consultants

Your request for information has been considered under the requirements of
the Freedom of Information Act and the information can be found at. I
apologise for the delay in providing you with this response.

[1]http://www.towerhamletsfoi.org.uk/docume...

You can also search our Disclosure Log for any specific topics of interest
[2]http://towerhamletsfoi.org.uk/disclosure...

Complete our Customer Satisfation Survey

Tower Hamlets is committed to giving you the best possible service. It is
only by listening to your views that we can find out what we are doing
well and what needs to improve.

We are continuously looking at ways in which to improve our services and
will act on what you tell us.

All of your answers will be treated in strictest confidence. You will not
be able to be identified from any of the information you have provided.
Your contact details are kept separately from the replies on the
questionaire.

Please take the time to complete the online survey by clicking on the
link below :

[3]http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=rw...

If you have any queries please get in touch with me to discuss them. You
might like to know that the Council's website [4]www.towerhamlets.gov.uk
contains a section on the Freedom of Information Act that lists other
publications readily available from the Council under its Publication
Scheme.

Yours faithfully

Jane Jones

Information Governance Administrative Officer

Legal Services

6th Floor

Mulberry Place

London E14 2BG

0207 364 4736

[5][email address]

Most of the information we provide in response to Freedom of Information
Act 2000 request will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases
the copyright will be owned by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The
copyright in other information may be owned by another person or
organization as indicated in the information itself.

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for
the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example, publishing the information or issuing copies to the public will
require the permission of the copyright holder.

For information where the copyright is owned by the London Borough of
Tower Hamlets, details of the conditions of re-use can be found on our
website at [6]www.towerhamlets.gov.uk.

For information where the copyright is owned by another person or
organization, you must apply to the copyright holder to obtain their
permission.

If you unhappy with this response or wish to complain about any aspect of
the handling of this request please write to:

Corporate Complaints Unit

Tower Hamlets Town Hall

Mulberry Place

5 Clove Crescent

London E14 2BG

If you are subsequently not satisfied with the Council's response to your
complaint you have a right of appeal to the independent Information
Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[7]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Further information about the operation of the act is available from the
council's website [8]www.towerhamlets.gov.uk and the information leaflet
in public reception areas in Council buildings.

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