Corporate Freedom of Information Team & SARs

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Dear Southend-on-Sea City Council,

1. Following a recent restructuring, please provide an organisational structure chart for the Corporate Freedom of Information Team . I request the names of all the post holders of positions that can be released and the number of employees that make up each team and sub team and the positions within these teams i.e. Operational Lead, Senior Customer Support Co ordinator etc.

2.. How many SARs have been made to the council in the last 12 months? Please provide the number for SARs made by staff separately.
3. Please provide a breakdown of the specific departments that these SARs relate to including when it relates to more than one department?
4. Is there a central response to SARs or is it devolved to the departments involved?
5. How are redactions dealt with and who has the final say on whether the information should be redacted in the event of a dispute? For example, the Adult Social Department or the team working in the SAR team?
6. How many staff are responsible for logging SARs?
7. How many SARs are completed and sent to the recipient on or before the deadline date in the last 12 months?
8. Do you have any software to assist with SAR production?

Yours faithfully,
Alison Melville

council, Southend-on-Sea City Council

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council, Southend-on-Sea City Council

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your email.

Your enquiry has been sent to the FOI Department for assistance.

Regards

Sophie, Customer Service Centre
Southend-on-Sea City Council
Civic Centre
Victoria Avenue
Southend-on-Sea
Essex SS2 6EP
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Southend FOI Requests, Southend-on-Sea City Council

4 Attachments

Customer Notice: Please do not e-mail Freedom of Information requests for
Southend Borough Council to individual officers. Please instead direct
them to [1][email address] where our central team will
direct their registration and completion.

 

Dear Alison Melville

 

Thank you for your request received on 31^st January 2023 for information
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004.

 

Your request should receive a reply by 28^th February 2023.

 

If you have any other queries, please get in touch quoting the FOI
reference number FOI 12606. Where possible please use email as telephone
contact may not always be possible.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Linda Huckett | Senior Customer Support Co-ordinator | Southend FOI
Requests

 

[email address] | [2]www.southend.gov.uk

  [3]Twitter@southendbc

  [4]Facebook.com/SouthendBCOfficial

  [5]Flickr.com/southendbc

Instagram.com/southendbc

 

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Southend FOI Requests, Southend-on-Sea City Council

4 Attachments

Dear Alison Melville

 

In response to your Freedom of information request in which you asked the
following question

 

 1. Following a recent restructuring, please provide an organisational
structure chart for the Corporate Freedom of Information Team . I
request the names of all the post holders of positions that can be
released and the number of employees that make up each team and sub
team and the positions within these teams i.e. Operational Lead,
Senior Customer Support Co ordinator etc.
 2. A) How many SARs have been made to the council in the last 12 months?
B) Please provide the number for SARs made by staff separately.
 3. Please provide a breakdown of the specific departments that these SARs
relate to including when it relates to more than one department?
 4. Is there a central response to SARs or is it devolved to the
departments involved?
 5. How are redactions dealt with and who has the final say on whether the
information should be redacted in the event of a dispute? For example,
the Adult Social Department or the team working in the SAR team?
 6. How many staff are responsible for logging SARs?
 7. How many SARs are completed and sent to the recipient on or before the
deadline date in the last 12 months?
 8. Do you have any software to assist with SAR production?

 

I can confirm that a search for the information has been completed

 

1. We do not have a team solely designated to Freedom of Information. 
This function is within the Customer Support Service and the structure
chart is attached .

2.A) Between January 2022 and December 2022 =130  B) We do not  record
that information separately.

3. We do not record that information.

4. In most instances its devolved to the Departments involved apart from
Children’s Social Care where we have specialist officers for the nature of
requests.

5.The person handling the Subject Access Request will make that decision
and if a review is made an officer with specialist data protection
knowledge will look at the response again

6. This constitutes part of the duties of 2 members of staff , however
other members of staff can be asked to assist on request

7.Between January 2022 and December 2022 - 32%  of SARs

8.Yes, Pentana Risk to record and monitor Subject Access Requests and
Kofax Power Advanced for redaction

 

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to request a review of our response, you should write to
the Information Rights Support, Information, Governance and Resolution
Hub, PO Box 6, Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS2
6ER. If you are not content with the outcome of your review, you can make
a complaint under the Council’s complaints process by writing to Corporate
Complaints Officer, Office of the Chief Executive, PO Box 6, Civic Centre,
Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS2 6ER.

 

You can also apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a
decision although generally the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have
exhausted the Council’s complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner
can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe
House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

 

Kind regards

 

 

 

Linda Huckett | Senior Customer Support Co-ordinator | Southend FOI
Requests

 

[email address] | [1]www.southend.gov.uk

  [2]Twitter@southendbc

  [3]Facebook.com/SouthendBCOfficial

  [4]Flickr.com/southendbc

Instagram.com/southendbc

 

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

The information in this e-mail and any attachments is confidential and may
be subject to legal professional privilege. It is intended solely for the
attention and use of the named addressee(s). If you are not the intended
recipient, please notify the sender immediately. Unless you are the
intended recipient or his/her representative you are not authorised to,
and must not, read, copy, distribute, use or retain this message or any
part of it. Communications sent to or from this organisations may be
subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant
legislation.

At present the integrity of e-mail across the Internet cannot be
guaranteed and messages and documents sent via this medium are potentially
at risk. You should perform your own virus checks before opening any
attachments.

Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really
need to.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.southend.gov.uk/
2. http://www.twitter.com/southendbc
3. http://www.facebook.com/SouthendBCOfficial
4. http://www.flickr.com/southendbc