Use of Agency Social professionals

Dear A Elliott

Thank you for your email dated 18 March 2010 in which you have requested
among other matters information in relation to the use of agency/social
work professionals.

We are considering your request under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, and hope to respond within the statutory 20 working
days.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, either
myself or a colleague will let you know the likely charges before
proceeding.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Valerie Morris

Contract Monitoring Officer

Chief Executive's Office

Democratic & Legal Services Division

5th Floor South Side

Taberner House

Park Lane Croydon

CR9 3JS

Tel: 0208 686 4433 ext. 62676

Fax: 0208 760 5679

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From: Morris, Valerie
Sent: 22 March 2010 11:04
To: 'A Elliott'
Subject: FOI Request Reference F/10/232

Dear A Elliott

Thank you for your email dated 19 March 2010 in which you have requested
among other matters information in relation to the use of agency/social
work professionals.

We are considering your request under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, and hope to respond within the statutory 20 working
days.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, either
myself or a colleague will let you know the likely charges before
proceeding.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Valerie Morris

Contract Monitoring Officer

Chief Executive's Office

Democratic & Legal Services Division

5th Floor South Side

Taberner House

Park Lane Croydon

CR9 3JS

Tel: 0208 686 4433 ext. 62676

Fax: 0208 760 5679

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

How might you spend -L-1.5 million improving Croydon's parks? It's your
money, so tell us now - www.croydon.gov.uk/yourparks.

Please use this web site address to view the Council's E-Mail disclaimer -
www.croydon.gov.uk/disclaimer/email.htm

Dear A Elliott

Thank you for your email dated 19 March 2010 in which you have requested
among other matters information in relation to the use of agency/social
work professionals. We have considered your request under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000, and apologise for the delay in replying.
The delay was due to the fact that we were under the erroneous impression
that a response had been sent to you and only just discovered (in the
course of doing an audit) that this request was still outstanding.

We have conducted a search in our records and confirm we hold some of the
information you have requested. However, we are unable to disclose the
information because it is not readily available as our system does not
record differentiate between qualified and non qualified social workers.

To provide the information you have requested officers would need to go
through copious amounts of documents and files (both manual and
electronic) in order to find the relevant information. The cumulative time
it would take for Council officers to provide the information you have
requested would therefore exceed the "appropriate limit". The appropriate
limit has been specified in the Freedom of Information (Fees and
Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004 and for local authorities it is set at
£450. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 2½
working days in locating, retrieving and extracting the information from
where it is stored. In view of the above and pursuant to Section 12 of the
FOIA the Council is not obliged to comply with your request.

If you are dissatisfied with the way the department has handled your
request under the Freedom of Information Act you may ask for an internal
review. Your request for internal review should be submitted to us within
40 working days of receipt by you of this response. Any such request
received after this time will only be considered at the discretion of the
Council. You can do this by outlining the details of your complaint and
either:

o e-mailing us at [Croydon Borough Council request email]
o faxing us on 0208 760 5679
o writing to FOI Complaints, London Borough of Croydon, Democratic and
Legal Services, Croydon, CR9 3JS

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:

o Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

James Derby

Corporate Solicitor

Legal & Democratic Services

London Borough of Croydon

Taberner House

Park Lane

CR9 3JS

Tel: 020 8760 5768 Ext. 61359

Fax: 020 8760 5679

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