Bonus payments

The request was successful.

Gerry Hallright

Dear The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust,

can you please email me a copy of the FOI reply to Norman Lamb or the Liberal Democrat Party about bonuses paid by the Trust

Yours faithfully,

Gerry Hallright

Newman, Emma (Dudley PCT), The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hallright

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - Ref: 1918

FOI Regarding Bonuses Paid

Thank you for your email received 27^th April 2010. You asked for a copy
of the response sent to the Liberal Democrat Party regarding bonuses paid
by the Trust.

Your request for information has now been considered. Unfortunately
without the reference number of the request we are unable to find the
exact request in which you refer to. However please see the attached
document which is a copy of a response in which the Trust released
information around the subject of bonus payments. This response was sent
in November 2009.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact me.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact
the Associate Director of Governance at Dudley PCT, St John's House, Union
Street, Dudley DY2 8PP or telephone 01384 366078 or email
[email address].

You can also refer to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Donna Betts

Head of Records and Information Governance

This information has been collated by our Freedom of Information Team if
you require names from within the organisation to attribute this
information to i.e. for media quotes please contact the representative
communications teams on; Dudley PCT: 01384 366874 or The Dudley Group of
Hospitals: 01384 244404.

Gerry Hallright

Dear Emma (Dudley PCT),

yes that exactly what I was looking for.
Thnks

Yours sincerely,

Gerry Hallright

Gerry Hallright

Dear Emma,

I have another request:
Can you send me a copy of your Hospitality, Sponsorship and Gifts policy and send me a copy of your 2008/9 register covering this area.

Yours faithfully,

Gerry Hallright

Newman, Emma (Dudley PCT), The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Gerry,

Can you please clarify which Trust this request is for, so I can log and
action for you?

Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Or
NHS Dudley

Please let me know

Many Thanks

Em

Emma Newman
RA and Information Governance Co-Ordinator

show quoted sections

Gerry Hallright

Dear Emma,

yes you must be busy covering two, it was for the Dudley Group of Hospitals.

Yours sincerely,

Gerry Hallright

Newman, Emma (Dudley PCT), The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Mr Hallright

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 -Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation
Trust Ref: 1991

Hospitality, Sponsorship and Gifts

Thank you for your request for information under the requirements of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. We started work on this request on
14/06/2010. As per section 10 of the Act, you can expect a reply no later
than 20 working days from this date.

There maybe 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 day time
limit for responses is suspended until receipt of the payment. If there is
a fee payable we will write to you again to let you know the process in
this event.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may
prevent the release of the information you have requested. We will assess
whether any of the exemption categories apply to your request (as per PART
11 of the Act) and if they do, or if there is a delay due to the
application of an exemption we will write to you again.

If any further assistance in this matter is required, please do not
hesitate to contact me on 01384 366886 or email: [email address]
alternatively you can contact Katie Bytheway, Information Governance
Officer, on 01384 366173 or email: [email address].

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700

www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Emma Newman

RA and Information Governance Co-Ordinator

Lichfield, Amy (Dudley PCT), The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Hallright

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation
Trust Ref: 1991

Hospitality, Sponsorship and gifts

Thank you for your email received on the 14^th June 2010. You asked for
information regarding Hospitality, Sponsorship and gifts

Your request for information has now been considered. I will answer your
query below:

. Can you send me a copy of your Hospitality, Sponsorship and Gifts
policy and send me a copy of your 2008/9 register covering this area.

Please find attached the Trusts Hospitality Register and Standing
Financial Instructions. Please refer to section 17.5 and 17.6 for
hospitality, sponsorship and gifts.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact me.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact
the Associate Director of Governance at Dudley PCT, St John's House, Union
Street, Dudley DY2 8PP or telephone 01384 366078 or email
[email address].

You can also refer to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Donna Betts

Head of Records and Information Governance

This information has been collated by our Freedom of Information Team if
you require names from within the organisation to attribute this
information to i.e. for media quotes please contact the representative
communications teams on; Dudley PCT: 01384 366874 or The Dudley Group of
Hospitals: 01384 244404.

Gerry Hallright

Dear Donna Betts,

thank you for your reply and the attachments.

I have some questions about items on the register and the policy.

1)Do you have any other procedure that deals with Hospitality? Your SFI does not appear to make reference to the NHS guidance:

COMMERCIAL SPONSORSHIP – ETHICAL
STANDARDS FOR THE NHS, Nov 2000

This guidance goes into more detail what is appropriate:

12. Hospitality must be secondary to the purpose of the meeting. The level of hospitality offered must be appropriate and not out of proportion to the occasion;
and the costs involved must not exceed that level which the recipients would normally adopt when paying for themselves, or that which could be reciprocated by
the NHS. It should not extend beyond those whose role makes it appropriate for them to attend the meeting.

For the following item :

Paul Farenden, Chief Executive
Alfred Edwards, Chairman
28/2/2009 Attended Ireland v England
rubgy match at Croke Park as
guests of Interserve FM.

2)For the 28/2/2009 Ireland v England rubgy match, what organisation/person paid for the following:
a)transport to Ireland
b) accommodation
c) meals/other

3) What contracts does the Trust hold with Interserve FM directly, or as part of a consortium and when were these won?

4) When do the contracts come up for renewal?

5) Is there a committee that discusses and makes assessments whether Interserve FM contracts are being carried out?

Yours sincerely,

Gerry Hallright

Lichfield, Amy (Dudley PCT), The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Mr Hallright

Thank you for your email requesting further clarification on your FOI
request. It has been re-submitted as a separate request and you can
expect a reply no later than 20 working days from this date.

Kind Regards

Amy

Information Governance Assistant
NHS Dudley

show quoted sections

Bytheway, Katie (Dudley PCT), The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Mr Hallright

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust Ref: 2044

Hospitality, Sponsorship and Gifts

Thank you for your email received 15^th July 2010. You asked for further
information following on from your Freedom of Information request 1991.

Your request for information has now been considered. I will answer your
queries below in turn:

1) Do you have any other procedure that deals with Hospitality? Your SFI
does not appear to make reference to the NHS guidance:

COMMERCIAL SPONSORSHIP - ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR THE NHS, Nov 2000. This
guidance goes into more detail what is appropriate:

12. Hospitality must be secondary to the purpose of the meeting. The
level of hospitality offered must be appropriate and not out of proportion
to the occasion; and the costs involved must not exceed that level which
the recipients would normally adopt when paying for themselves, or that
which could be reciprocated by the NHS. It should not extend beyond those
whose role makes it appropriate for them to attend the meeting.

The Trust does not hold a Policy named Hospitality Policy. The information
for the Trust's hospitality is contained in the document previously
forwarded to you entitled: Standing Financial Instructions.

2) For the following item:

Paul Farenden, Chief Executive

Alfred Edwards, Chairman

28/2/2009 Attended Ireland v England rugby match at Croke Park as guests
of Interserve FM.

For the 28/2/2009 Ireland v England rugby match, what organisation/person
paid for the following:

a) Transport to Ireland

b) Accommodation

c) Meals/other

All costs associated with the rugby match were paid for by the Trust's PFI
Partner's Service Provider; Interserve.

3) What contracts does the Trust hold with Interserve FM directly, or as
part of a consortium and when were these won?

The Trust does not hold a direct contract with Interserve FM.

4) When do the contracts come up for renewal?

This is not applicable to the Trust; please see the response to question
3.

5) Is there a committee that discusses and makes assessments whether
Interserve FM contracts are being carried out?

There are a number of committees that assess the services in partnership
with the Special Purpose Vehicle, with whom the contract with Interserve
FM is held.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact me.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact
the Associate Director of Governance at Dudley PCT, St John's House, Union
Street, Dudley DY2 8PP or telephone 01384 366078 or email
[email address].

You can also refer to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Donna Betts

Head of Records and Information Governance

This information has been collated by our Freedom of Information Team if
you require names from within the organisation to attribute this
information to i.e. for media quotes please contact the representative
communications teams on; Dudley PCT: 01384 366874 or The Dudley Group of
Hospitals: 01384 244404.

Gerry Hallright

Dear Donna Betts,

thank you for your reply to my FOI.

I am interested in some more information about the Trusts relationship with Interserve.

On the Interserve website, the company states:

"The £1billion-contract was won in 2000 for a 40-year period and encompasses the design, build, finance and operation of a new hospital on the Russells Hall site as well as the refurbishment of the existing buildings and building two new Ambulatory Care Centres on the Guest and Corbett sites.

The hospitals were delivered through a partnership between Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust and Summit Healthcare, a consortium of Interserve, Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) and construction specialists, Sir Robert McAlpine.

Interserve was appointed to provide a range of soft and hard services; all non-clinical support, asset maintenance, repair as well as life cycle services at all three sites, managing over 620 staff. The recently-refurbished, 72,619m² Russells Hall hospital has doubled in size providing approximately 840 beds.

Following the successful delivery of the original contract and the strong partnership built, we have been awarded subsequent work to build the multi-storey car park."

1. My previous FOI asked about contracts held with Interserve as a part of a consortium, which the above information seems to confirm.
You said you held no such information.
Can you confirm the information above that Interserve is part of a consortium, called Summit Healthcare and the approx £1 billion figure is correct?

2. Do you have information to show how much money is paid to Interserve within this Consortium?
I would be grateful if you can assist me, as it is unclear to me how all the arrangements of this PFI are set up. I am interested in knowing approximately how much Interserve is paid for the services to the Trust.

3. The Interserve information mentions a contract for a multi-story carpark. Can you tell me whether this was with Interserve or as part of a PFI, Consortium or other arrangement? Can you tell me the approximate value for this contract and when this was awarded.

4. Can you please tell me the names of the Trust Committees that monitor the work that Interserve carries out and what aspects of Interserve's work they monitor eg "non-clinical support, asset maintenance, repair as well as life cycle services" as listed on the Interserve website?

Yours sincerely,

Gerry Hallright

Bytheway, Katie (Dudley PCT), The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Mr Hallright

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust Ref: 2075

Interserve (following request 2044)

Thank you for your email following your original request for information
under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I am
processing your new questions as a separate request under the Act. We
started work on this request on 02/08/2010. As per section 10 of the Act,
you can expect a reply no later than 20 working days from this date.

There maybe 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 day time
limit for responses is suspended until receipt of the payment. If there is
a fee payable we will write to you again to let you know the process in
this event.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may
prevent the release of the information you have requested. We will assess
whether any of the exemption categories apply to your request (as per PART
11 of the Act) and if they do, or if there is a delay due to the
application of an exemption we will write to you again.

If any further assistance in this matter is required, please do not
hesitate to contact me on 01384 366886 or email:
[email address] alternatively you can contact Emma Newman, RA
and Information Governance Coordinator, on 01384 366173 or email:
[email address].

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700

www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Donna Betts

Head of Records and Information Governance

Williams, Sharon,

[email address]

Dear Mr Hallright

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - Ref: 2075

Interserve

Thank you for your email received 3^rd August 2010. You asked for further
clarification of your previous FOI request.

Your request for information has now been considered. I will answer your
query below:

· My previous FOI asked about contracts held with Interserve as a
part of a consortium, which the above information seems to confirm. You
said you held no such information. Can you confirm the information above
that Interserve is part of a consortium, called Summit Healthcare and the
approx £1 billion figure is correct?

Interserve Investments (not Interserve FM), a company of the Interserve
Plc. Group, is indeed one of the three Summit healthcare consortium
members. Value of the 40-year Concession is approximately £40M.

· Do you have information to show how much money is paid to
Interserve within this Consortium? I would be grateful if you can assist
me, as it is unclear to me how all the arrangements of this PFI are set
up. I am interested in knowing approximately how much Interserve is paid
for the services to the Trust.

The Trust only has a contract with Summit Healthcare (Dudley) Ltd. As a
consequence of this the payment for services is from the Trust to Summit.
The Trust does not have access to the payment information between Summit
Healthcare (Dudley) ltd and Interserve (FM) Ltd

· The Interserve information mentions a contract for a multi-story
car park. Can you tell me whether this was with Interserve or as part of a
PFI, Consortium or other arrangement? Can you tell me the approximate
value for this contract and when this was awarded?

The employer on the multi-storey car park is Interserve Facilities
Management.

Interserve Facilities Management is part of the Trust's PFI
Consortium. The work being undertaken for the multi-storey car park is
through a Variation Contract with Summit Healthcare.

The contract for the multi-storey car park was awarded in August 2009.

As the car park is not yet completed the Trust does not have information
on the final costs of the project.

· Can you please tell me the names of the Trust Committees that
monitor the work that Interserve carries out and what aspects of
Interserve's work they monitor e.g. "non-clinical support, asset
maintenance, repair as well as life cycle services" as listed on the
Interserve website? -

The main committee that monitors the performance of the PFI contract
services is the performance Evaluation Committee. Information is fed into
this committee via the outcome of audits on services carried out by the
Trust, any performance issues identified by users via number of verbal and
electronic communication methods and from a range of user groups and sub
committees

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact me.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact
the Associate Director of Governance at Dudley PCT, St John's House, Union
Street, Dudley DY2 8PP or telephone 01384 366078 or email Paul
[email address].

You can also refer to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Sharon Williams

Information Governance Manager

Ext 1208

This e-mail contains Confidential information some, or all of which may be
legally privileged. It is intended solely for the use of the individual to
whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient please notify
the sender immediately and delete the message and any attachments. Any
views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not
necessarily represent those of the Dudley Group Of Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust unless explicitly stated otherwise. Dudley Group Of
Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust monitors the contents of e-mails sent and
received via its network for the purposes of ensuring compliance with
legislation, policies and procedures.

Dudley Group Of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust cannot guarantee that
information sent to the Trust remains confidential. The Freedom of
Information Act 2000 may require us to release information to the public,
even where it is provided by a third party. Information Falling within the
Data Protection Act will not be released to the public, such as patient
information, staff information or personal data such as name and address.

You must not pass data to anyone who does not have a legitimate and proper
NHS care delivery-related need to use it.

If you have concerns regarding this disclaimer please contact;

Kevin Shine, Head of Information

Dudley Group Of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 01384 321210.

Dear Sharon Williams,

thank you for your reply dated 1st September.
I have some questions arising from your answers:

1) A Trust FOI answer on the 27th July stated:
"3) What contracts does the Trust hold with Interserve FM directly, or as part of a consortium and when were these won?
The Trust does not hold a direct contract with Interserve FM."

In an answer dated 1 September, the Trust stated:
"The employer on the multi-storey car park is Interserve Facilities Management. Interserve Facilities Management is part of the Trust's PFI
Consortium. The work being undertaken for the multi-storey car park is through a Variation Contract with Summit Healthcare.
The contract for the multi-storey car park was awarded in August 2009."

The 27th July reply gave no information about the multi-storey contract run by a party within the consortium as requested and described Interserve FM as "part of the Trust PFI Consortium". It is unclear why you did not include this information in the 27th July reply?

2) Can you please estimate the value of the Hospitality from Interserve FM in 2008/9 to the Chairman and Chief Executive? If they stayed overnight in Ireland, at what hotel did they stay and for how many nights?

3) Was the Hospitality approved in advance by the Trust Board or Audit Committee?

4) The Trust 2009/10 Annual Report states:
"work commenced on a £7m new multi-tiered staff car park at Russells Hall Hospital."
For the contract awarded in August 2009 to build the car park, where was the contract advertised? What companies tendered for this contract?

5) What was the title or name of the Chairman of the performance Evaluation Committee between April 2008 - March 2010?

6) In the Trust 2008/9 Registry of Hospitality, there is an item that lists Siemens IT as a provider of Hospitality.
Paul Farenden, Chief Executive
Paul Brennan, Operations Director
7/2/2009
Attended England v Italy rugby match at Twickenham as guests of Siemens IT.

Is Siemens IT the same company that acts as a Service Provider within the Summit Healthcare contract?

7) Please supply a copy of your 2009/10 Register of Hospitality.

Yours sincerely,

Gerry Hallright

Lichfield, Amy (Dudley PCT), The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Mr Hallright

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation
Trust Ref: 2222

Further details in relation to ref numbers 1991 2044 2075

Thank you for your request for information under the requirements of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. We started work on this request on
11/11/2010. As per section 10 of the Act, you can expect a reply no later
than 20 working days from this date.

There maybe 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 day time
limit for responses is suspended until receipt of the payment. If there is
a fee payable we will write to you again to let you know the process in
this event.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may
prevent the release of the information you have requested. We will assess
whether any of the exemption categories apply to your request (as per PART
11 of the Act) and if they do, or if there is a delay due to the
application of an exemption we will write to you again.

If any further assistance in this matter is required, please do not
hesitate to contact me on 01384 366886 or email:
[email address] alternatively you can contact Emma Newman, RA
and Information Governance Coordinator, on 01384 366173 or email:
[email address].

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700

www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Amy Lichfield

RA and Information Governance Assistant

Betts, Donna (Dudley PCT), The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

1 Attachment

Dear Gary

Further to your email in response to ours dated the 1^st September
regarding your request for information.

As there is a number of requests that we have received from you and some
confusion appears to have arisen could I ask that you clarify direct to me
what new information you require which will be classed as reference
RFI2222. The 20 working day time limit will re-start from when I receive
your response.

With regards to further clarification that you require on previous freedom
of information responses please list them separately at the end of your
new request in order that I can investigate your concerns.

Regards

Donna Betts

Head of Records & Information Governance

01384 321713

mobile 07786 635716

[1]cid:image001.jpg@01CB66CC.DA1A2860

References

Visible links

Dear Donna,

thank you for your acknowledgement dated the 11th November and your request for clarification dated the 17th November.

Reviewing the questions I sent, I believe they all request new information.
Are there specific clarifications, ie which question numbers and are there specific parts within these questions?

Question 1 refers back to two previous FOI answers the Trust gave and I am asking if the Trust held the information about the car park contract, why it did not appear to disclose this in the earlier 27th July reply.

Please tell me if this covers the concerns, or if further information is needed,

Yours sincerely,

Gerry Hallright

D. Speers left an annotation ()

Thank you for your tenacity Gerry (Gary!). Very interesting FOI.
Thanks again
Dee

Newman, Emma (Dudley PCT), The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hallright

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 -Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation
Trust Ref: 2222

Further details 1991 2044 2075

Thank you for your letter dated 11^th November 2010. You asked for further
information to your previous requests.

Your request for information has now been considered. I will answer your
queries below in turn:

1) A Trust FOI answer on the 27th July stated:

"3) What contracts does the Trust hold with Interserve FM directly,or as
part of a consortium and when were these won? The response was: The Trust
does not hold a direct contract with Interserve FM."

In an answer dated 1 September, the Trust stated:

"The employer on the multi-storey car park is Interserve Facilities
Management. Interserve Facilities Management is part of the Trust's PFI
Consortium. The work being undertaken for the multi-storey car park is
through a Variation Contract with Summit Healthcare. The contract for the
multi-storey car park was awarded in August 2009."

The 27th July reply gave no information about the multi-storey contract
run by a party within the consortium as requested and described Interserve
FM as "part of the Trust PFI Consortium". It is unclear why you did not
include this information in the 27th July reply?

The Trust is contracted with Summit Healthcare as the Special Purpose
Vehicle. Summit sub-contracts the services it is contracted to provide to
its Service Providers, one of which is Interservefm. This was not
mentioned previously as there is no direct contractual link between the
Trust and Interserve.

2) Can you please estimate the value of the Hospitality from interserve FM
in 2008/9 to the Chairman and Chief Executive If they stayed overnight in
Ireland, at what hotel did they stay and for how many nights?

The Party did not stay overnight and all meal and ticket costs were borne
by the PFI Partners for which the Trust has not been privy to the amount
spent.

3) Was the Hospitality approved in advance by the Trust Board or Audit
Committee?

No. The Board of Directors and Audit Committee are not required to approve
acceptance of Hospitality.

4) The Trust 2009/10 Annual Report states:

"Work commenced on a £7m new multi-tiered staff car park at Russells Hall
Hospital." For the contract awarded in August 2009 to build the car park,
where was the contract advertised? What companies tendered for this
contract?

The contract for the car park project was advertised via Official Journal
of the European Union (OJEU)

The contractors that tendered for this project were:

· Allenbuild

· Fitzpatrick Construction

· Interserve Project Services Ltd.

· Kier Construction

· Mansell Construction

· Norwest
Holst

5) What was the title or name of the Chairman of the performance
Evaluation Committee between April 2008 - March 2010?

If your above question relates to the performance of the PFI service
providers, then the performance evaluation committee has been chaired by
the Services Manager and the Commercial Manager.

6) In the Trust 2008/9 Registry of Hospitality, there is an item that
lists Siemens IT as a provider of Hospitality.

Paul Farenden, Chief Executive

Paul Brennan, Operations Director 7/2/2009

Attended England v Italy rugby match at Twickenham as guests of Siemens
IT.

Is Siemens IT the same company that acts as a Service Provider within the
Summit Healthcare contract?

Yes, Siemens IT is the same company that acts as a Service Provider within
the Summit Healthcare contract.

7) Please supply a copy of your 2009/10 Register of Hospitality.

Please find attached (PDF) a copy of the 2009/2010 Register of
Hospitality.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact me.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact
the Associate Director of Governance at Dudley PCT, St John's House, Union
Street, Dudley DY2 8PP or telephone 01384 321713 or email
[email address].

You can also refer to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Donna Betts

Head of Record and information Governance

This information has been collated by our Freedom of Information Team if
you require names from within the organisation to attribute this
information to i.e. for media quotes please contact the representative
communications teams on; Dudley PCT: 01384 322060 or The Dudley Group of
Hospitals: 01384 244404.

Gerry Hallright left an annotation ()

FURTHER INFORMATION REQUESTED IN CONNECTION WITH HOSPITALITY OFFERED

Date: 18th February 2011

Dear Mr Hallright

Email: gerry.hallright@googlemail.com

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - Ref: FOI/2325

With reference to your FOI request that was received on 24.1.2011 in connection
with ‘Hospitality.

Your request for information has now been considered and the information is shown
below.
 You asked for: 
 
The following Trust Hospitality item in the 2008/9 Hospitality listing:

“Paul Assinder, Director of Finance and Information 7/3/2009 Received and declined
an invitation from a Partner at Deloittes & Co, the Trust’s internal auditors, to attend
a hospitality at a local football match. Declined due to the Trust going to tender for
Audit Services. “
Please provide the name of the Partner at Deloittes & Co mentioned in this listing
and details of the football match offered e.g. Aston Villa Premier League game.

The Trust gave the following additional listing detail:
"Paul Assinder, Director of Finance and Information 5/11/2008 Attended a business
lunch with Gus Miah, Deloittes at the Bank Restaurant, Birmingham."

This Hospitality item appears to fall fully within the guidelines of the Trusts SFIs as
business lunches can provide an opportunity to promote the interests of a public
body and obtain information useful to the Trust. Mr Miah's name is given, possibly
due to the senior nature of his post and the fact that Deloittes is given as the Trust
internal auditor.

I believe it is in the public interest to disclose the name of a partner offering
Hospitality whose firm undertakes internal audit within a public authority. Other public
authorities could benefit from the insight and understanding of the relationship
between an auditor and a public body.
Auditing is a particularly sensitive public function requiring the highest public
confidence which transparency and openness promotes. It is useful to know whether companies or individuals make repeated hospitality
offers as a pattern of hospitality can offer insight into the nature of hospitality and
SFIs often make reference to “repeated” or “isolated” hospitality.
A very senior audit person would have a reasonable expectation that their name
would be disclosed, a reasonable assumption being that such a person would have a
high degree of familiarity with a public authorities obligations under the FOI and Trust
SFIs.
Additionally, external auditors are identified by name and are familiar with this aspect
of disclosure.
The Trust does not hold the specific information required, however the Director of
Finance and Information has said that his recollection was of a specific event (e.g.
tax briefing or budget briefing etc) which was held at a football ground and was
followed by a meal and invite to the match. Professional accountancy firms do hold
such events from time to time and invite local finance directors. He considered that it
was important to register it since it came from a firm which provided the Trust’s audit
services. Unfortunately he cannot recall the name of the partner concerned or
indeed which office of the firm provided the invite (he believes that each
geographical office is a separate legal partnership). He was satisfied at the time
that such an invitation was in no way an inducement to favour Deloitte in any
tendering process and indeed the appointment of auditors was made by our Council
of Governors.
 If you have any queries or concerns then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please remember to quote the reference number 'FOI/2325' in any future
communications related to this FOI request.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and
wish to make a compliant, you should write to me (post/email) using the contact
information shown below.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint or review, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot
make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by
Dudley Group of Hospitals Foundation Trust.

Further information about your rights is also available from the Information
Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113
Fax: 01625 524510
www.ico.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Gerry Hallright left an annotation ()

A FURTHER FOI REQUEST ABOUT DETAILS OF THE CAR PARKING CONTRACT - NO REPLY YET

dateMon, Jan 24, 2011 at 9:16 PM
subjectFOI request

Dear Dudley Group of Hospitals,

thank you for the reply dated the 9th December 2010.
I would be grateful if the Trust can consider the following request for information under the FOIA which relate to the contract awarded to InterserveFM for the multi-storey car park construction at Russells Hall Hospital.

i) Please give the name of the panel or Committee which evaluated the bids for the car park contract and gave a recommendation which bid should be accepted. Please give the titles or names of the senior persons on this panel. Senior managers have been classed as Directors and managers reporting directly to a Director in some FOI rulings.

ii) On what date was the panel recommendation presented to the Trust Board?

iii) Were the Chairman and Chief Executive present at this Trust Board meeting?

iv) Was the car park bid received from InterserveFM the lowest in financial terms of all bids received?

In an FOI Trust reply (Ref: 2075) dated the 1st September 2010, the Trust stated:
"As the car park is not yet completed the Trust does not have information on the final costs of the project."

As the car park has now been reported as completed,
v) what was the final cost of this project, and by how much was this higher/lower/the same as the awarded contract, or if more appropriate higher/lower/the same as budgeted?

vi) If the Trust declines to give an answer to question v), please state if the completed project was overspent/underspent/was on target as budgeted. If it was overspent, please give an indication of the range of overspend, I suggest bandings of £250,000 ie was it overspent between 0-£250,000, £250,000 - £500,000 etc.

I believe it is in the public interest to disclose details of the car park contract as it would inform similar projects and decisions made by other public bodies. There has been considerable public discussion around this construction project and public confidence in public capital projects would be strengthened by disclosure.
The recent public Trust APR Strategy document states: "The car park construction is currently on plan for completion in the autumn with no current issues around budget overspend." Therefore some public disclosure has already been made by the Trust as regards this contract and it would seem consistent to repeat disclosure covering the end of the project.
Disclosure would inform governance arrangements around the awarding of construction contracts which would benefit other public authorities intending a construction project.

I would be grateful if you can assist and advise around the questions of construction costs as I believe these can be complicated and possibly may not be captured by a single financial measure.

Yours sincerely,

Gerry Hallright

Gerry Hallright left an annotation ()

THE TRUST REGISTER OF HOSPITALITY RECORDS THE FOLLOWING

Paul Assinder, Director of Finance and Information

7/3/2009

Received and declined an invitation from a Partner at
Deloittes & Co, the Trust’s internal auditors, to attend a hospitality at a local football match. Declined due to the Trust going to tender for Audit
Services.

There were some, but not many NHS managers who turned down Hospitality. Mr Assinder declined this offer of Hospitality.

The Trust gave the following additional listing detail:
"Paul Assinder, Director of Finance and Information 5/11/2008 Attended a business
lunch with Gus Miah, Deloittes at the Bank Restaurant, Birmingham."

This Hospitality item appears to fall fully within the guidelines of the Trusts SFIs as
business lunches can provide an opportunity to promote the interests of a public
body and obtain information useful to the Trust.

I genuinely believe the above and commentators should try to distinguish between events where the interests of the NHS are being pursued and other events where personal interests may predominate.

Mr Miah's name is given, possibly
due to the senior nature of his post and the fact that Deloittes is given as the Trust
internal auditor.

The 2009 Department of Health Hospitality guidance provides a useful approach in judging when NHS interests are being pursued at Hospitality events.