Costs for Ethnic Diversity Service
Dear Sir or Madam,
Please provide the following information for the 2008-9 fiscal year:
1. The budgeted total cost of the Ethnic Diversity Service (EDS).
2. The sources of funding for the EDS, and the amount derived from each. Please indicate specifically the amount of budgeted funding that is derived from local council tax revenues.
3. The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff employed by the authority, either directly or on a contract basis, whose duties are solely or principally concerned with administering or delivering the EDS.
Yours faithfully,
Frederick Peterson
Dear Mr Peterson,
Thank you for your request for information below, which has been given reference FOI 2285. Please quote this on any correspondence regarding your request.
Stockport Council will respond to your request within 20 working days. If there will be a charge for disbursements e.g. photocopying in order to provide the information, we will inform you as soon as possible to see if you wish to proceed; however such charges are usually waived if they amount to less than £10.
Yours sincerely,
Val Flanigan
Dear Mr Peterson
Thank you for making a Freedom of Information request our reference 2285. Stockport Council is happy to provide you with the following information in answer to your questions.
1. The 2008/09 budgeted total cost of the Ethnic Diversity Service (EDS).
EDS has 2 main budgets to cover work in schools and interpreting.
Council Budgeted Cost of EDS: £370,988
Stockport Interpreting Unit budgeted cost: £0.00
(The Council does not provide a budget. SIU has to income generate.)
2. The sources of funding for the EDS, and the amount derived from
each. Please indicate specifically the amount of budgeted funding
that is derived from local council tax revenues.
Schools budget
Grants for 08/09:
Ethnic Minority Achievement grant: £150,000 Standard Fund Allocation
Schools Development Fund: £4,596
Income generated from cultural talks and training: £17,541
Interpreting budget
Income generated from contracts: £106,311
Income from pay-as-you-go sessions: £180,768
Income from training: £2,698
3. The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff employed by the
authority, either directly or on a contract basis, whose duties are
solely or principally concerned with administering or delivering
the EDS.
Schools Team: 14.8 FTE
Interpreting Team: 5.2 FTE
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request you are entitled to ask for an internal review. Any internal review will be carried out by a senior member of staff who was not involved with your original request. To ask for an internal review, contact [email address] in the first instance.
If you are unhappy with the outcome of any internal review, you are entitled to complain to the Information Commissioner. To do so, contact:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
01625 545 745
Yours sincerely
Sara Barnard
DP/FOI Officer
Dear FOI Officer,
Thank you for the response to my FOI request your ref 2285.
I would like to request further clarification of the financial data that you provided for the EDS.
1. It seems that the total budgeted cost to the council of running the EDS in 2008/9 is £370,988 but that this figure includes only the costs for the ‘Schools’ activity. It follows that none of the costs associated with the Interpreting activity are included in this figure. Is that correct?
2. It therefore also follows that this figure includes only the cost for the 14.8 FTE in the Schools Team, and not the 5.2 FTE in the Interpreting Team. Is this correct?
3. It would seem then that the schools activity has a deficit of £370,988 (costs) minus £172,137 (income) = £198,851. How is this deficit financed?
4. Regarding the ‘Schools budget’ the EMA grant is from central government, however what is the source of the ‘School Development Fund Grant’?
5. You list ‘Income generated from cultural talks and training’ under grants, but this is incorrect surely? What is the actual source of this income? Is any derived from the private sector?
6. Regarding the budgeted income of £289,777 for the Interpreting activity, how much of this is planned to derive from the private sector, if any?
7. Summing the Schools and Interpreting Budgets indicates total income of £461,914. Since that exceeds the Council’s cost of £370,988 there is an implied ‘surplus’ of £90,926. How is that accounted for in the council’s overall budget?
If you prefer I will make the above the subject of a separate new FOI request; please advise accordingly
Yours sincerely,
Frederick Peterson
Dear Mr Peterson,
Thank you for your request for information as below, this will be treated as a new request which has been given reference FOI 2324. Please quote this on any correspondence regarding your request.
Stockport Council will respond to your request within 20 working days. If there will be a charge for disbursements e.g. photocopying in order to provide the information, we will inform you as soon as possible to see if you wish to proceed; however such charges are usually waived if they amount to less than £10.
Yours sincerely,
Val Flanigan
Dear Mr Peterson,
I am writing in response to your request for information below (ref 2324).
The information you requested is below:
1. It seems that the total budgeted cost to the council of running
the EDS in 2008/9 is £370,988 but that this figure includes only
the costs for the `Schools' activity. It follows that none of the
costs associated with the Interpreting activity are included in
this figure. Is that correct?
Costs related to interpreting requests and staffing are not in this
figure.
2. It therefore also follows that this figure includes only the
cost for the 14.8 FTE in the Schools Team, and not the 5.2 FTE in
the Interpreting Team. Is this correct?
Yes
3. It would seem then that the schools activity has a deficit of
£370,988 (costs) minus £172,137 (income) = £198,851. How is this
deficit financed?
Council budget.
4. Regarding the `Schools budget' the EMA grant is from central
government, however what is the source of the `School Development
Fund Grant'?
SDG is received through the Standards Fund Grant from the DCSF and is
separate to the Standards Fund /EMA Grant.
5. You list `Income generated from cultural talks and training'
under grants, but this is incorrect surely? What is the actual
source of this income? Is any derived from the private sector?
`Income generated from cultural talks and training' should not have been
put under grants. The actual source of this income is mainly from schools
and other services in the Council. The only requests from the private
sector have been from private nurseries but there are only a few of these,
if any, per year.
6. Regarding the budgeted income of £289,777 for the Interpreting
activity, how much of this is planned to derive from the private
sector, if any?
£289,777 was the income for 2008-9 and £1,944.27 was derived from the
private sector.
7. Summing the Schools and Interpreting Budgets indicates total
income of £461,914. Since that exceeds the Council's cost of
£370,988 there is an implied `surplus' of £90,926. How is that
accounted for in the council's overall budget?
The two budgets cannot be added together because they are two separate
services/budgets.
SIU does not receive a Council budget and is an income-generated
service. Salary and running expenses associated with the cost of
delivering this service must be funded by this income.
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request you are
entitled to ask for an internal review. Any internal review will be
carried out by a senior member of staff who was not involved with your
original request. To ask for an internal review, contact
[1][email address] in the first instance.
If you are unhappy with the outcome of any internal review, you are
entitled to complain to the Information Commissioner. To do so, contact:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
[2]www.ico.gov.uk
01625 545 745
Yours sincerely,
Claire Naven
Claire Naven
Data Protection & Freedom of Information Officer
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
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