This document has been classified as: Not Protectively Marked
Iain Logan
Date: 6th November 2014
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Our Ref: FOI 14 14494
Dear Mr Logan
Freedom of Information Request
I refer to your Freedom of Information Request received on 10th October 2014.
Your Request
Would you please provide me with details of total spending for repairs and maintenance
with contractors for the following since February 2012 to-date?
Roofing works
Plastering works
Joinery works
Scaffolding works
Door canopies
UPVC Gutters / rainwater goods
Please provide the same details separately for the above in connection with Decent Homes
works covering the same dates as above?
Each of the above should list the individual contractor and service which they provided and
the total value paid to each contractor from February 2012 to date, listing total payment to
each named contractor for Repairs and Maintenance and separately for Decent Homes
works.
Town Hall & Civic Offices
Telephone: 0191 427 7000
Westoe Road
Fax No:
0191 427 7171
South Shields
Tyne and Wear, NE33 2RL
Website: www.southtyneside.info
This document has been classified as: Not Protectively Marked
Council’s Response
The Council does hold the information that falls within the description of your request;
however we have decided to refuse your request under the section 12 exemption of the Act
as it would exceed the appropriate cost threshold of the Act.
The Council are not legally obliged to respond to requests for information which exceed the
cost threshold of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). The appropriate limit as set
out in Section12 of the Act is £450. This cost presents one person spending 2½ working
days (i.e. 18 hours) in determining if the information is held and locating, retrieving and
extracting the information for disclosure purposes.
We estimate that to respond to your FOI request would involve substantial effort and a
disproportionate exercise of trawling through manual and electronic records, thus exceeding
the £450 limit. It is on this basis that your request is refused.
Reason for refusal – and time estimate analysis
When the Council does hold the information requested, but has decided to withhold
providing information on the grounds of excessive time or cost, I have a duty to explain the
efforts made by the Council to provide you with the information and explain the process and
steps taken to make this decision.
To respond accurately to your request would require retrieving the records of each
individual repair / renewal request, then by section and order placed. As an example to try
to fulfil your request, we initiated a search of records received via The South Tyneside
Homes Responsive Repairs team only, and there were 3889 repair requests received for
Sub Contracting works in the 2013/14 year, so if pro rata’d over the period requested would
equate to approximately 9722 requests excluding separately placed Oracle payment
system orders by this team. We would then have to analyse each record on an individual
basis.
We also have those raised via ST Homes Client teams, Planned Team (Including planned
and one off replacement orders), and also the Asset team. It is difficult to accurately predict
a labour timescale to locate and retrieve this data. However for repairs alone, we have
estimated this would take a minimum of 4 days of one officer’s time, assuming it took one
minute checking each record of transaction.
Additionally, the Asset team have confirmed the length of time taken for plastering and
joinery would require Quantity Surveyors to go through each individual stream of works to
check costs and for the period requested would take a number of weeks not days.
The information requested does not sits under a specific budget line that would allow easy
data extraction in the format you have requested. For example, our systems are not set up
in a format or budget specifically called ‘Plastering’ where all plastering works would be
placed, costed and recorded. South Tyneside Homes has 120,000 job tickets per year
alone for repairs which could contain some aspect of plastering along with other works
completed. Plastering is then also carried out on Void jobs (which could be around 7,000
job tickets per annum), Decent homes works, after one off rewires and heating installations,
after one off kitchen installations and after structural and flooring works.
This document has been classified as: Not Protectively Marked
The same challenges would apply for Roofing and joinery works, which would all require a
similar process.
It is on this basis that I am satisfied that every effort has been made to try to provide
the information you have requested within the allowable timescales, but I conclude a
Section 12 exemption has been correctly applied to your request.
Advice and assistance
Under Section16 of the Freedom of Information Act we are obliged to provide advice and
assistance, where appropriate when refusing information held on cost grounds.
We therefore envisage that should you narrow the scope of your request to fall within the
limit of the Act we may be able to reconsider your request.
Copyright Procedure
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988. You are free to use this information for your own purposes, including any
non-commercial research you are doing and news reporting. Any other re-use of this
information, for example commercial publication requires the permission of the Council as
the Copyright holder. All re-use requests will be treated under the Re-Use of Public
Information Regulation 2006.
Internal Review Procedure
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of this enquiry you can invoke the Council’s internal
review procedures to ask for an independent review of your request. All such requests must
be sent to us within 4 weeks and must clearly state in writing your reference number and
your reasons for your request for internal review.
The Information Governance Team can be contacted at the following address: Information
Governance Team, Central Library, Prince Georg Square, South Shields, Tyne and Wear,
NE33 2PE.
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Should you remain dissatisfied with the final outcome of the internal review process you can
write to the Information Commissioner to ask for an independent review.The Information
Commissioner is the Government’s Independent Body responsible for overseeing the
Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.
Please do note the ICO will only review cases that have exhausted the Council’s internal
review procedures. All correspondence to the ICO must quote the Council’s reference
number and your reasons for your appeal.
The ICO’s contact details are as follows: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe
House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF. More information can be found on the ICO’s
website a
t www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
This document has been classified as: Not Protectively Marked
If you have any further queries about this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us on
(0191) 424 6539, or by emailing
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx. Yours sincerely
Paul Robinson
Corporate Lead, Corporate Affairs