Agency worker: Agreements, Contracts, pay scales
Dear Sir or Madam,
Agency worker: Agreements, Contracts, pay scales
Please send me an electronic copy, (see accessibility notes below) via http://www.whatdotheyknow.com, of the following information:
FOI Act: (Freedom of Information Act 2000)
:- Contracts or equivalent information/documents
1.1) Copies of any contracts you have for the provision of temporary worker agency staff, with regards agency/temporary social care/social worker staff/workers. Contracts you may have with individual agency staff recruitment businesses/services, hereafter called 'Vendors'. Or contracts you may have with organisations like, Comensura, Manpower, Reed, hereafter called 'Managed Service Provider' who provide Master/Vendor Neutral framework to managed all vendors on behalf of Public Authorities like yourselves. A sample FOI disclosed Managed Service Provider agreement can be downloaded via:
http://www.filedropper.com/mastervendorc...
:- Hourly Pay scales/rates with regards agency/temporary social care/social worker staff.
1.2) A list of each Vendor you use and copies of hourly pay-scales/rates you hold for each Vendor. Whether or not you use each Vendor via Managed Service Provider framework. Please ensure any provided pay-scale information provided explains how many years of experience is required to be applicable to any specific hourly rate. Sample FOI disclosed pay scale/rates information can be downloaded via:
http://www.filedropper.com/agencypayscal...
:- Panel Vendor Agreement or equivalent information/documents
1.3 A copy of any contract/agreement used by yourself or any Managed Service Provider to manage individual Vendors through any Master/Vendor Neutral framework you operate or participate in, this is sometimes called a Panel Vendor Agreement. A sample FOI disclosed Panel Vendor Agreement can be downloaded via:
http://www.filedropper.com/panelvendorag...
To help clarify these requests 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, you can download:
A sample FOI disclosed Panel Vendor Agreement can be downloaded via:
http://www.filedropper.com/panelvendorag...
and
Sample FOI disclosed pay scale/rates information can be downloaded via:
http://www.filedropper.com/agencypayscal...
A sample FOI disclosed Managed Service Provider agreement can be downloaded via:
http://www.filedropper.com/mastervendorc...
Please also indicate whether any of the information requested 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 has ever been disclosed before under the FOI Act.
Acessibility notes: Information accessibility
To be able to use a computer Screen Reader (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_reader) with any information you provide please provide the information in Microsoft Office Word Document format (.Doc) or equivalents like WordPerfect and Open Office Writer Please state explicitly if this format is not available, if this format is not available please provide it in an accessible Portable Document Format (PDF). Accessibility information can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_reader and with regards PDF's http://www.adobe.com/enterprise/accessib... - http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/so...
Yours faithfully,
Eric Blair
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to clarify/amend a part of my information request,Section 1.2, with regards payscale information.
This part of my original request stated:
":- Hourly Pay scales/rates with regards agency/temporary social care/social worker staff.
1.2) A list of each Vendor you use and copies of hourly
pay-scales/rates you hold for each Vendor. Whether or not you use each Vendor via a Managed Service Provider framework. Please ensure any provided pay-scale information provided explains how many years
of experience is required to be applicable to any specific hourly rate."
Please also add after the word 'framework':
If you do you use a Managed Service Provider please also provide a copy of the pay-scales/rates that are used by the Managed Service Provider to manage all these Vendors.
Therefore section 1.2 should now read thus:
1.2)A list of each Vendor you use and copies of hourly
pay-scales/rates you hold for each Vendor. Whether or not you use each Vendor via a Managed Service Provider framework. If you do you use a Managed Service Provider please also provide a copy of the pay-scales/rates that are used by the Managed Service Provider to manage all these Vendors. Please ensure any provided pay-scale information provided explains how many years of experience is required to be applicable to any specific hourly rate.
Yours sincerely,
Eric Blair
Dear Mr Blair
Thank you for your email dated 8 February 2009 in which you have requested
information in respect of, amongst other things, Agency worker's
Agreements, contracts, and pay scales.
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
Chris Tanriverdi
Paralegal
Democratic & Legal Services
Chief Executives's Department
5th Floor South Side, Taberner House
Park Lane, Croydon CR9 3JS
Tel : 020 8726 6000 Ext: 63833
Fax: 020 8407 1322
Faxination:020 8633 9664
Email: [1][email address]
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Dear Tanriverdi, Christine,
Further to a request to clarify, please narrow my request to temporary agency staff undertaking the following roles:
1) Social Workers
2 Social Work Assistants
in relation to such staff working with Children's Services and or
Adult's Services
Yours sincerely,
Eric Blair
Dear Mr Blair
Thank you for your email dated 8 February 2009 in which you request
information in respect of, amongst other things, the Council's Agency
worker's Agreements, contracts, and pay scales. We have now considered
your request under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA).
We have conducted a search into our records and can confirm that the
Council holds the information you have requested. However the Council is
unable to disclose all of the information that you have requested to you
for the reasons set out below.
To find the relevant information that you request Council officers would
have to sift through copious amounts of data and spend a substantial
amount of time putting this in the form that you require. The resultant
information that Council officers uncover would then need to be examined
individually to ensure compliance with the FOIA and redacted accordingly
where applicable before disclosure to you. Therefore the cumulative time
it would take for Council officers to provide the information you have
requested would 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. Under Section 12 of the FOIA the Council is not
obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing your
request further.
If you are unhappy with the way the department has handled your request
under the Freedom of Information Act, you may ask for an internal review.
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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Dear Sir or Madam,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Croydon Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Agency worker: Agreements, Contracts, pay scales'.
Unlike most Public Authorities you did not offer me any advice or guidance on my FOI request and or ask me to clarify or narrow my request, to make it more likely to result in disclosures. See good practice guidance:
Section 16 - Advice and assistance (AG23)
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...
Providing advice and assistance
"Public authorities are required to provide the requester with advice and assistance while processing their request. This is especially important where a request for information exceeds the appropriate cost limit."
http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/foi-p...
Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs' Code of Practice on the discharge of public authorities' functions under Part I of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
http://www.foi.gov.uk/reference/imprep/c...
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ag...
Yours sincerely,
Eric Blair
Dear Mr. Blair,
Thank you for your email dated 23 February, 2008, requesting an Internal
Review of your recent Freedom of Information request.
I am dealing with your request for a review under the terms of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
I will contact you again as soon as I have completed the review. This
should normally take no longer than 20 working days, from receipt of your
request for a review. The deadline for a response for this review is 16
March 2009.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
Yours sincerely,
Howard Passman
Information Management Manager
Democratic & Legal Services Division
Southside, 5th Floor Taberner House
Park Lane, Croydon CR9 3JS
020 8726 6000 ext. 62318
www.croydononline.org (Community Website)
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Major Exhibition comes to Croydon. The Hidden Treasures from the Mary Rose
opens 7 April until 7 August 2009. For more information
[1]www.maryrosehiddentreasures.org
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Dear Passman, Howard,
Croydon Council should have little problem disclosing item requests 1.1 and 1.2, other local authorities such as Liverpool, Halton and Havering have already disclosed such. I would be happy for Croydon to limit it's disclosures to items 1.1 and 1.3.
Yours sincerely,
Eric Blair
Dear Sir or Madam,
Related disclosures already made:
Halton Council
"Thank you for providing the information requested
and doing so in such a short time of 7 working days."
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/co...
Newham Council
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ag...
Liverpool Council
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/di...
Kingston upon Thames Borough Council
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ag...
Telford & Wrekin Council
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/co...
Yours sincerely,
Eric Blair
Dear Mr. Blair
Further to my email to you dated 4 March 2009, I have now completed the
internal review of the response to your request for information in respect
of Agency Worker agreements contracts and pay scales. Please accept my
apologies for the delay in responding to your request for a review.
In your email to me dated 8 March you further limited your request for
review, to the Councils response on items 1.1 and 1.3. I have therefore
only reviewed the Council's responses in respect of those items in your
request and can respond as follows:
"1.1 Copies of any contracts you have for the provision of temporary
worker agency staff, with regards agency/temporary social care/social
worker staff/workers. Contracts you may have with individual agency staff
recruitment businesses/services, hereafter called 'Vendors'. Or contracts
you may have with organisations like, Comensura, Manpower, Reed, hereafter
called 'Managed Service Provider' who provide Master/Vendor Neutral
framework to managed all vendors on behalf of Public Authorities like
yourselves."
Following additional enquiries, I have now been informed that the Council
does not hold individual agreements or contracts with individual agency
workers or agencies for the provision of temporary staff.
"1.3 A copy of any contract/agreement used by yourself or any Managed
Service Provider to manage individual Vendors through any Master/Vendor
Neutral framework you operate or participate in, this is sometimes called
a Panel Vendor Agreement. "
I have been informed that the Council's Managed Service Provider is
Comensura, who have a contract with the Council for the provision of
provision of temporary staff.
I apologise that in its original response the Council did not confirm
whether or not it would provide a copy of the contract with Comensura. I
have considered your request for a copy of the contract in question but am
of the view that it falls under the exemption provided in section 43 of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Section 43(2) of the Freedom of
Information Act provides that "Information is exempt information if its
disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the
commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding
it)."
I have gone on to consider whether the public interest in withholding this
contact outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Having considered the information in the contract I am of the view that it
would not be in the public interest to release this information to you.
This is because when the Council reach the point of re-tendering the
contract it would significantly hinder the Council's ability to undertake
commercial negotiations with third parties and thereby obtain value for
money from public funds which it uses for the services it procures, if
this information were in the public domain.
If you are not content with the outcome of this internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
. Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Yours sincerely
Howard Passman
Information Management Manager
Democratic & Legal Services Division
Southside, 5th Floor Taberner House
Park Lane, Croydon CR9 3JS
020 8726 6000 ext. 62318
www.croydononline.org (Community Website)
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Eric Blair left an annotation ()
Advice and assistance and fees
"14.Where an authority is not obliged to comply with a request for information because, under section 12(1) and regulations made under section 12, the cost of complying would exceed the "appropriate limit" (i.e. cost threshold) the authority should consider providing an indication of what, if any, information could be provided within the cost ceiling. The authority should also consider advising the applicant that by reforming or re-focussing their request, information may be able to be supplied for a lower, or no, fee."
http://www.foi.gov.uk/reference/imprep/c...