Why Are Council Employees And A Private Contractor Having A Meeting In Lake District

Thank you for your request for information received on 31st August 2010.

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Yours sincerely

Cath Cryer
Democratic Services

Email: [Manchester City Council request email]

george To
<request-46003-21483bd3@whatdothey FOI requests at Manchester City Council
know.com> <[Manchester City Council request email]>
cc
31/08/2010 11:38
Subject
Freedom of Information request - Why Are Council Employees And A
Private Contractor Having A Meeting In Lake District

Dear Manchester City Council,

I have been told by a friend that Council Highways employees and a
private contractor are proposing to have a workshop meeting in the
Lake District.

As a Manchester resident I would like to know the following

Have these workshop meetings taken place before ? If so where ?

Is it common practice to have meetings in the Lake District ?

Who is paying for this privilage ?

Why could the meeting not take place in Manchester in normal
working hours ?

Are any senior officers from the council attending ?

What is the reasoning behind the trip ?

Yours faithfully,

george

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Dear Mr Quinn

Request for Information - 43 - NBH/893BZU

Thank you for your request for information, which was received by
Manchester City Council on 6th September 2010.

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to consider your request and provide a formal response.

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advised of this in due course.

Regards,

Kay Payne
Highway Services, Neighbourhood Services
1 Universal Square
Block 4 Level 3
Devonshire Street
Manchester
M12 6JH

Tel No 0161 600 7263
[email address]
http://www.manchester.gov.uk

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Dear Mr Quinn

Freedom of Information request - Information in relation to 'A workshop
taking place in the Lake District' - reference (43) NBH/893BZU

Thank you for your request for information, which was received by
Manchester City Council on 4th September and has been considered under the
provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoIA)

You have requested the following information Under Freedom of Information
-

"I have been told by a friend that Council Highways employees and a
private contractor are proposing to have a workshop meeting in the Lake
District. As a Manchester resident I would like to know the following:

Have these workshop meetings taken place before ? If so where ?
Is it common practice to have meetings in the Lake District ?
Who is paying for this privilege ?
Why could the meeting not take place in Manchester in normal working
hours?
Are there any senior officer from the council attending?
What is the reasoning behind the trip?

Please find below the information you requested-

Have these workshop meetings taken place before ? If so where?

The partnership workshops, in the past have been a full day and held
annually, between Manchester City Council (MCC) Street Lighting monitoring
staff, MCC senior management team and Amey management team. The most
recent two have been held at Tulip Hotel in Trafford and then Midland
Hotel in Manchester. However, the most recent workshop, held in a MCC
owned and operated establishment in the Lake District had a different
agenda and a larger more diverse audience so that the overall service
provision could be focused upon and improvements identified and actioned.
Therefore, this actual workshop with a different agenda had not taken
place before.

Is it common practice to have meetings in the Lake District?
The Highways Organisation has not had any other meetings in the Lake
District. However, other departments have utilised the MCC owned and
operated establishment before.

Who is paying for this privilege?
The costs are being shared between the three partners in the Street
Lighting PFI service provision. These being MCC, Amey Highways Lighting
(Manchester) and Amey LG.

Why could the meeting not take place in Manchester in normal working
hours?
It was imperative to remove the attendee from any distraction and maintain
their focus on the workshop and associated targets. The working day
attained during the workshop was well in excess of the normal working day
for which the attendees received no extra pay. Discussions also carried
on between the attendees outside of the workshop during personal time
which assisted in identifying areas to focus on.

Are there any senior officers from the council attending?
The workshop was supported by senior officers from MCC and Highway
Services.

What is the reasoning behind the trip?
To improve performance and co-working between and within MCC, Amey
Highways Lighting (Manchester) and Amey LG in the execution of the Street
Lighting PFI Contract and works involving highway projects
delivered by MCC.

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machinery before considering your complaint.
The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

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

Regards,

Dawn Gill
Customer Services Manager
Highway Services
Universal Square
Internal Tel: 860 - 7268
External Tel: 0161- 600 7268

email: [email address]
Our vision is to achieve a highway network that is safe, sustainable and
accessible for all

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