SEND and ASC transport spend

The request was successful.

Dear Durham County Council,

We are doing some research into the value of council / authority Special Education Needs & Disability and Adult Social Care transport contracts operated by private hire operators. To this end, could we please request your assistance in obtaining the information below, for your council / authority, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:

Data request:

For the last 3 financial years (by year), and latest financial year (estimated):

1. Spend on Special Education Needs & Disability [SEND] transport i.e. taking children with SEND to and from school
2. Number of SEND passengers transported
3. Value of all council / authority SEND transport contracts awarded to taxi operators (PHV) (excluding coach hire)

4. Spend on Adult Social Care [ASC] transport i.e. taking elderly passengers to and from day centres
5. Number of ASC passengers transported
6. Value of all council / authority ASC transport contracts awarded to taxi operators (PHV) or taxi operators (excluding coach hire)

If actual figures aren’t available, is it possible to provide estimates instead? If yes, we would be grateful if you could indicate which figures are estimated.

By ‘contract awarded’ we mean in all contracts regardless of contracting approach e.g. open tender, framework, dps, or other.

Format: Please send through data in whichever format is easiest for you.

Clarification: If the request is unclear, please accept our apologies and let us know what clarification is needed. Similarly if it is not possible to provide the information requested due to it exceeding the cost of compliance limits, we would be grateful if you could advise as to how we might refine our request accordingly.

Thank you for your time and we look forward to your response.

Many thanks,
Tracey Vickers on behalf of HCT Group

Freedom of Information,

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

 

This letter is our acknowledgement of your request received 25-JUNE-2018. 
Please note the reference number in the subject line of this email and
refer to it in any future correspondence. The case officer dealing with
your request is:

 

Lawrence Serewicz Tel. 03000 268038

 

Depending on the type of request, it will be handled under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR).  Both of these have a statutory 20 working day deadline for a
response however, in some cases, the deadline may be extended to 40
working days. The deadline for an FOIA request can be extended if an
extended public interest test is required before deciding to respond. The
deadline for an EIR request can be extended if the information requested
is too voluminous or complex to respond to fully within the 20 day
timescale. If this is the case, we will write to explain that to you.

 

If we hold this information, we will let you know and in most cases supply
it to you.  You may request a particular format for receiving the
information and we will do our best to accommodate. In most cases, we will
respond by email or letter in 12 point Arial font.  If you have a
particular need to receive the material in a different format, please let
us know.

 

In some cases, the information you request will be exempt from disclosure.
What this means is that the legislation allows the Council to refuse to
provide the information. Where this occurs, we will tell you the reasons
why and we will explain how to appeal that decision.

 

If your requests refers to a third party, then they may be consulted about
disclosing the information before we decide whether to release the
information to you.  For example, if someone asks about a contract with a
supplier, we will contact the supplier to consider their views about
disclosing the information.

 

NB: There may be a charge for environmental information. Please contact us
if you have any questions about that charge.

 

In some cases, we may require a payment to cover photocopying, postage, or
other production costs on requests that require large amounts of
photocopying. However, we will discuss this with you and look for ways to
provide the information in electronic formats if possible.  If a payment
is required, it must be provided before we can send you the information. 
If a payment is required, the 20 working day time limit for responses is
suspended until the payment is received. 

 

We may also need to contact you to clarify your request. We are obliged to
do this under s.16 of the Act, which refers to the duty to provide advice
and assistance to applicants.  When we ask to clarify your request, the 20
working day countdown stops until we hear back from you. If you have not
contacted us about the request within 30 days, we will close it.

 

Please note that your request and our response will be put on the
Council’s disclosure log.  What this means is that we keep a log of all
the requests and responses if anyone wants to look at them. When we put
the request and response on the log, we remove the applicant’s name and
any personal references. In any case, where personal information remains,
it will be done in accordance with the Data Protection Act (DPA).

 

If you have any questions or need further information, then please
contact:

 

The Information Management Team

Durham County Council

Assistant Chief Executive’s Office

Room 4/143-148

County Hall

Durham

DH1 5UF

Tel. 03000 268038

Email: [1][Durham County Council request email]

 

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 745

Fax: 01625 524 510

Email: [2][email address]

[3]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely,

 

The Information Management Team

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Freedom of Information,

Dear Tracey Vickers,

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION – RESPONSE TO REQUEST

 

We regret that we have been unable to provide the information within the
20 day deadline.

 

Rest assured that every effort is being made to provide the information
and we shall endeavour to respond to you as soon as possible.

 

Your request is currently with the service area, we will contact the
service area to remind them of the request and provide it to you as soon
as it is available.

 

In the meantime, please accept our sincere apologies and please contact
the relevant case officer – Lawrence Serewicz Tel. 03000 268038, should
you wish to discuss this matter further.

 

We wish to take this opportunity to thank you for your patience.

 

Our main contact details are:

 

The Information Management Team

Durham County Council

Assistant Chief Executive’s Office

Room 4/143-148

County Hall

Durham

DH1 5UF

Tel: 03000 268038

Email: [1][Durham County Council request email]

 

Yours sincerely,

 

The Information Management Team

 

show quoted sections

Dear Freedom of Information,

Thank you for your email and apology, I look forward to receiving your response.

Yours sincerely,

Tracey Vickers, on behalf of HCT Group

Freedom of Information,

2 Attachments

Dear Ms Vickers
Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Response to request for information - FOI20187028TV
Thank you for your request for information. Please see our response attached.
Yours sincerely

Christine Paciorek BA(Hons) PC foi and dp
Freedom of Information and Data Protection Officer
Transformation and Partnerships
Durham County Council
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UF
Telephone 03000 268036
Switchboard 03000 26 0000

www.durham.gov.uk
Follow us on Twitter @durhamcouncil
Like us at facebook.com/durhamcouncil
Follow us on linkedin.com/company/durham-county-council

show quoted sections

Dear Christine,

Thank you very much for your response. I would be grateful if you could go back to the relevant department with regards to Q2 and Q5 - they have given the number of passenger journeys and we would like the number of passengers (pupils who receive transport for Q2 and adults who use social care transport regardless of the number of days for Q5).

Thank you very much for your help, I am grateful for your time.

Yours sincerely,

Tracey Vickers, on behalf of HCT Group

Freedom of Information,

Our new reference number: IR20187274TV

Dear Tracey Vickers,

Following your email below, we will now carry out an Internal Review for the above request. To allow us to track your internal review more easily and provide a timely response, we have logged it under a new reference number, as above. A response from the review will be provided within 20 working days or no later than 40 working days in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The case officer dealing with your request is:

Julie Johnson Tel 03000 268073.

Yours sincerely,

Information Management Team
Durham County Council

show quoted sections

Dear Julie,

We are still awaiting correction of the answers to Q2 and Q5 of our original FOI request from 25th June. Please can you provide an update?

Thank you for your help.

Yours sincerely,

Tracey Vickers, on behalf of HCT Group

Freedom of Information,

2 Attachments

Dear Tracey Vickers
Please see attached response to your request for an internal review of your freedom of information request.

Yours faithfully

Julie Johnson
FOI & DP Officer
Information Management Team
Transformation and Partnerships
Durham County Council
County Hall
Room 143-148 4th Floor
Durham County Council
DH1 5UF

Direct 03000 268073

show quoted sections

Dear Julie,

Thank you very much for providing the outstanding information, I am grateful for your time.

Yours sincerely,

Tracey Vickers, on behalf of HCT Group