Barclaycard Payments

The request was successful.

Dear Chorley Borough Council,

Since October 2010 up to this 16th January this year Chorley Council has been exemplary in the level of spending published, often beyond the latest version of transparency code and in true spirit of its' intentions.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY CODE 2015
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...

The Code reads
Government Procurement Card transactions
30.Local authorities must publish details of every transaction on a Government
Procurement Card. For each transaction, the following details must be published:
 date of the transaction
 local authority department which incurred the expenditure
 beneficiary
 amount
 Value Added Tax that cannot be recovered
 summary of the purpose of the expenditure, and
 merchant category (eg. computers, software etc).

AND ON COMMERCIAL CREDIT CARDS it adds

INFORMATION RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION
"Publish all transactions on all corporate credit cards, charge cards and procurements, including those that are not a Government Procurement Card. For each transaction the details that should be published remain as set out in paragaph 30" [above]

which to my best knowledge from at least October 2010 to 16 January this year you had been doing.

But during this year to the end of May you have changed your reporting so that £31,889.27 spent on the Council BarclayCard(s) is now only identifiable to CONTROL ACCOUNTS, POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, GENERAL BALANCES, Balance Sheet, and with no supporting narrative other than Month and Year or in one case "cards".

Only another £12,206.75 is identifiable down to Organisational Unit, Expenditure Category, and CIPFA detailed expenditure, but again no supporting narrative.

QUESTIONS
Noting that Card spend in just five months this year appears to have exceeded that of the whole of 2017 by £10,355,

(1) Why has the reporting method changed from spend by spend detail to a monthly total?
(2) Please identify from the spending of £31,889.27 since 16 January 2018 down to at least Expenditure Category and CIPFA detail for me, OR
(3) Is the spend since January 16th double reported elsewhere in your monthly spending tables?
(2) how much of ALL Barclaycard spend since 16 January 2018 was on Social Media advertising and in particular on Facebook?
(3) how much of all Barclaycard spend since 16 January 2018, if any, is attributable to the flower show 2018?
(3) do you plan to restore the level of reporting to that prior to 16 January in the interests and spirit of public transparency?

Yours faithfully,

Peter Malpas

Contact, Chorley Borough Council

Thank you for your email.

 

We will deal with your enquiry as quickly as possible. You may find the
information you need on our website.

 

Kind Regards

Chorley Council

 

( 01257 515151 | 8 [1]chorley.gov.uk
Waste collections are changing. To find out more click [2]here.

You can make service requests online at [3]chorley.gov.uk, and it’s even
faster if you use '[4]My Account'

This e-mail and any attached files are confidential and may also be
legally privileged. They are intended solely for the intended addressee.
If they have come to you in error you must not use, copy or communicate
them to anyone. Please advise the sender and permanently delete the e-mail
and attachments. Please note that while Chorley Council has policies in
place requiring its staff to use e-mail in an appropriate manner, any
views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender may not
necessarily reflect the views of Chorley Council. Chorley Council may
monitor e-mails sent or received.

References

Visible links
1. http://chorley.gov.uk/
2. http://chorley.gov.uk/Pages/AtoZ/Waste-a...
3. http://chorley.gov.uk/
4. https://myaccount.chorley.gov.uk/Login.a...

foi, Chorley Borough Council

Dear Peter

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000
REGARDING BARCLAYCARD PAYMENTS

OUR REFERENCE:  FOI/18/363

I can confirm that we have received your request for information, and that
it is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act
2000, which requires us to respond to your enquiry within 20 working days
of its receipt.  You should therefore expect to receive a response by 19
July 2018.

Please note that the information provided by Chorley Borough Council is
intended for your personal use.  If it is your intention to re-use the
information for commercial gain, you will need to apply to the Council for
a licence to re-use it, under the Re-Use of Public Sector Information
Regulations 2005.

Information on the regulations can be obtained from the Office of Public
Sector Information and accessed directly on their website:

[1]http://www.opsi.gov.uk

FOI

Chorley Council

( 01257 515151| 8 [2]chorley.gov.uk
Opt into or renew your subscription to our garden waste collection service
for the subscription year 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019 [3]here.

You can make service requests online at [4]chorley.gov.uk, and it’s even
faster if you use '[5]My Account'

This e-mail and any attached files are confidential and may also be
legally privileged. They are intended solely for the intended addressee.
If they have come to you in error you must not use, copy or communicate
them to anyone. Please advise the sender and permanently delete the e-mail
and attachments. Please note that while Chorley Council has policies in
place requiring its staff to use e-mail in an appropriate manner, any
views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender may not
necessarily reflect the views of Chorley Council. Chorley Council may
monitor e-mails sent or received.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/
2. chorley.gov.uk
http://chorley.gov.uk/
3. here
https://myaccount.chorley.gov.uk/forms/g...
4. chorley.gov.uk
http://chorley.gov.uk/
5. My Account
https://myaccount.chorley.gov.uk/Login.a...

foi, Chorley Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Peter,

I am writing in response to your request for information under the terms
of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Ref No FOI/18/363.

Please find below, the details of your request and our response in blue.

QUESTIONS

Noting that Card spend in just five months this year appears to have
exceeded that of the whole of 2017 by £10,355,

(1) Why has the reporting method changed from spend by spend detail to a
monthly total? The council is implementing a new credit card module and
have had problems creating a report that breaks down the expenditure by
type. The council is looking to resolve this problem and it is expected
that transactions from August 2018 onwards will be broken down and
reported as they have been in the past. The council will amend the lists
already published with the detailed transaction data.

(2) Please identify from the spending of £31,889.27 since 16 January 2018
down to at least Expenditure Category and CIPFA detail for me, OR attached
is a download of transactions making up the £31,889.27 and this relates to
transactions from 28/08/17 to 26/04/18.

(3) Is the spend since January 16th double reported elsewhere in your
monthly spending tables? The spend is included in the March and May files
but as one line per month, there is no double reporting.

(2) how much of ALL Barclaycard spend since 16 January 2018 was on Social
Media advertising and in particular on Facebook? The total on this
spreadsheet is £6,401.02 for social media but this relates to transactions
from 28/08/17 to 26/04/18.

(3) how much of all Barclaycard spend since 16 January 2018, if any, is
attributable to the flower show 2018? None of the transactions on this
list are applicable to the flower show.

(3) do you plan to restore the level of reporting to that prior to 16
January in the interests and spirit of public transparency? Yes we will
load these transactions into the March and May files and look to rectify
this problem as soon as we can.

I hope the information provided here answers your enquiry.  If however,
you are unhappy with the outcome, or the way in which Chorley Council has
handled your request, you may wish to make an appeal.  This can be done in
writing to the Information Manager, Chorley Council, Civic Offices, Union
Street, Chorley, PR7 1AL, or by e-mail to: [1][Chorley Borough Council
request email]  clearly stating your reasons for dissatisfaction.  Please
quote the above reference number in all correspondence.

 

If your appeal is either not upheld or you remain dissatisfied with our
decision, you can appeal to the Information Commissioner at:  Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF, or by e-mail to [2][email address].

Please note that the information provided by Chorley Borough Council is
intended for your personal use. If it is your intention to re-use the
information for commercial gain, you will need to apply to the Council for
a licence to re-use it, under the Re-Use of Public Sector Information
Regulations 2005.

Yours sincerely,

FOI
Chorley Council

( 01257 515151 | 8 [3]chorley.gov.uk
Chorley Flower Show 28 and 29 July – buy your tickets in advance and save
20% - for more details click [4]here.

You can make service requests online at [5]chorley.gov.uk, and it’s even
faster if you use '[6]My Account'

This e-mail and any attached files are confidential and may also be
legally privileged. They are intended solely for the intended addressee.
If they have come to you in error you must not use, copy or communicate
them to anyone. Please advise the sender and permanently delete the e-mail
and attachments. Please note that while Chorley Council has policies in
place requiring its staff to use e-mail in an appropriate manner, any
views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender may not
necessarily reflect the views of Chorley Council. Chorley Council may
monitor e-mails sent or received.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[chorley%20borough%20council%20request%20email]
2. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email%20address]
3. chorley.gov.uk
http://chorley.gov.uk/
4. here
http://www.chorleyflowershow.com/
5. chorley.gov.uk
http://chorley.gov.uk/
6. My Account
https://myaccount.chorley.gov.uk/Login.a...