Dear Sir or Madam

REF: 2010/COR0180 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION- INFORMATION REQUEST

I acknowledge your request received on 05 March 2010

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.

If appropriate, the information may be provided in paper copy, normal font size, or electronically. If you require alternative formats, e.g. language, audio, large print, etc. then please let me know.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the case, including your rights of appeal.

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to release the information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.

There may a fee payable for this information. This will be considered and you will be informed if a fee is payable. In this event the fee must be paid before the information is processed and released. The 20 working day time limit for responses is suspended until receipt of the payment.

If you have any queries do not hesitate to contact me.

Further information is available from the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, Telephone: 01625 545 700, http://www.ico.gov.uk

Yours faithfully

Alison Ross-Dow
Senior Information Management Officer
London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
Information Management Team/Finance & Corporate Services
2nd Floor, Hammersmith Town Hall Extension
King Street
London W6 9JU
DL: 020 8753 2455

www.lbhf.gov.uk

Director of Finance & Corporate Services: Jane West

Dear Sir or Madam

REF: 2010/COR0180 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION- INFORMATION REQUEST

Your request for information has now been considered and our response is as follows:

I am interested in the amounts paid by each school in Hammersmith and Fulham to third parties in relation to temporary staffing cover. My hope is to receive an electronic breakdown of amounts paid through the department's purchase ledger by school.

Notes:
1. I would like the information in electronic format. This should avoid any printing cost issues.
2. In order to avoid your having to collate information from peripheral systems, I am willing to accept information only from your main system (I would like you to advise which system this is). By main system I mean the system that handles the largest part of the department's expenditure. If supplier payments are made through separate systems, then I would like you to choose the main system for each.
3. The information I require for each school is: School Name; Supplier name and total amount paid.
4. I would like the information to cover the year 2008/9. I will accept 2007/8 figures if this is not possible.

This information is not held by the council. Schools within the borough arrange their own temporary staffing cover, and you would need to approach each school directly to request this information. The contact details of all our schools is available from our web site at: http://www.lbhf.gov.uk/Directory/Educati...

If you are dissatisfied in any way you may write to the Information Manager, Business Technology, 2nd Floor, Hammersmith Town Hall Extension, London W6 9JU

Once you have exhausted the complaints procedure you may appeal to the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, Telephone: 01625 545 700, http://www.ico.gov.uk

Yours faithfully

Alison Ross-Dow
Senior Information Management Officer
London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
Information Management Team/Finance & Corporate Services
2nd Floor, Hammersmith Town Hall Extension
King Street
London W6 9JU
DL: 020 8753 2455

www.lbhf.gov.uk

Director of Finance & Corporate Services: Jane West

Dear Sir or Madam
REF: 2010/COR0180 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPEAL
I am writing with regards to your email dated 23 March 2010, which you sent in follow up to our response to your recent Freedom of Information Request.

Having read the response and your original request, together with some background notes, I have deemed that your case is eligible for an internal review.

I will fully investigate and respond to your email within 20 working days.

Should you have any queries in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours faithfully

Ciara Shimidzu - Information Manager
LB Hammersmith and Fulham
Information Management Team
Finance and Corporate Services
2nd Floor, Hammersmith Town Hall Extension
King Street
London W6 9JU

Tel: 020 8753 3895 (ext. 3895)
Email: [email address]
Website: www.lbhf.gov.uk

Dear Sir or Madam
REF: 2010/COR0180 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPEAL
I am writing to advise you that there will be a delay in my responding to your request for a review

I apologise for the delay and will respond to you by 30 April 2010.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further queries.

Yours faithfully

Ciara Shimidzu - Information Manager
LB Hammersmith and Fulham
Information Management Team
Finance and Corporate Services
2nd Floor, Hammersmith Town Hall Extension
King Street
London W6 9JU

Tel: 020 8753 3895 (ext. 3895)
Email: [email address]
Website: www.lbhf.gov.uk

Dear Sir or Madam

REF: 2010/COR0180 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION- APPEAL

I am writing to respond to your request for an internal review received 23 March 2010.

I have now considered your appeal, our original response to you dated 15 March 2010, consulted the parties concerned under FOI and have responded to your questions below. Your questions are emboldened.

I am writing to request an internal review of Hammersmith & Fulham Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Annual temporary staff spend by individual school'.

I have requested a breakdown by school. I would assume that yearly financial accounting takes place, collating all information from schools relating to CFR E26 - Supply Teacher spend with agencies, and that a system somewhere holds this information.

If you cannot provide this information, can you please provide me with more specific details of who can, and not just the DCSF website. I have had no issues obtianing this information from other Local Authorities.

I am interested in the amounts paid by each school in Hammersmith and Fulham to third parties in relation to temporary staffing cover. My hope is to receive an electronic breakdown of amounts paid through the department's purchase ledger by school.

Notes:
1. I would like the information in electronic format. This should avoid any printing cost issues.
2. In order to avoid your having to collate information from peripheral systems, I am willing to accept information only from your main system (I would like you to advise which system this is). By main system I mean the system that handles the largest part of the department's expenditure. If supplier payments are made through separate systems, then I would like you to choose the main system for each.
3. The information I require for each school is: School Name; Supplier name and total amount paid.
4. I would like the information to cover the year 2008/9. I will accept 2007/8 figures if this is not possible.

Further to my investigation as a result of your appeal, I am able to disclose some of the information requested so please find attached a spreadsheet which lists the schools and the amount they spent in 2008/9:

I therefore apologise for this information not being disclosed to you in your original request and I am taking remedial action with the service area concerned. However, we do not hold the supplier details this is because we collate this information from returns provided by schools which do not include supplier names. You would need to contact the schools listed to see if they can provide further details on this. The original response provided you with the correct link to school's contact details from the council's website which I send again: http://www.lbhf.gov.uk/Directory/Educati...

As a result of retrieving and disclosing some of the information you requested in your original appeal, your appeal is therefore partially upheld.

Please do not hesitate to contact me again if you have any further queries regarding this matter.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, http://www.ico.gov.uk

Yours faithfully

Ciara Shimidzu - Information Manager
LB Hammersmith and Fulham
Information Management Team
Finance and Corporate Services
2nd Floor, Hammersmith Town Hall Extension
King Street
London W6 9JU

Tel: 020 8753 3895 (ext. 3895)
Email: [email address]
Website: www.lbhf.gov.uk