Details of Discretionary Housing Payments "008/10

The request was successful.

Dear Nottingham City Council,

Pleas will you provide me with the following information under the Freedom of Information Act -

For each of the financial years 2008/09 and 2009/10

1) The total actual expenditure on Discretionary Housing Payments

2) The maximum limit allowed for expenditure on DHPs

3) The central government grant allocation towards DHPs

4) The total number of applications to the DHP scheme for each year

5) The number of successful applications for each year.

In addition, I understand that a working group was established sometime last year to examine the operation of DHPs (according to a letter I received from Cllr Trimble). Please could you send me a copy of all minutes of this group and any supporting documents that they have considered.

I also understand that an operational review has been taking place to revisit decision-making, evidence gathering etc. Please send me a copy of all minutes of meetings from this review.

Thank you

Yours faithfully,

Andy Platt

Information Governance, Nottingham City Council

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your request for information. As the information you
requested is neither environmental nor personal it will be processed in
accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

A response will be sent to you as soon as possible and in any case within
the statutory deadline which is 20 working days starting the working day
after this authority received your request.

If you should have any questions please contact this office quoting your
personal case reference which is IGO/10-7303.

Regards,

Andrew Goodfellow

Senior Information Governance Officer

Tel: 0115 8763855

Information Governance | Nottingham City Council | Loxley House | Station
Street | Nottingham | NG2 3NG

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Dear Information Governance,

It appears that your response to my request is late. Please will you update me as to when I can expect to receive a reply?

Yours sincerely,

Andy Platt

Charlotte Halls, Nottingham City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Platt,

Please find attached the response to your Freedom of Information request,
regarding Discretionary Housing Payments.

Regards

Charlotte

--

Charlotte Halls

Senior Information Governance Officer
Resources

Nottingham City Council, Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3HX
Tel: 0115 87 63855
E-mail: [1][email address]

Website: [2]www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Register to vote this year to have your say in the 2011 Nottingham City
Council Election. Politics affects you!
[3]www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/elections

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This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may
contain personal views which are not the views of
Nottingham City Council unless specifically stated.
If you have received it in error, please delete it from
your system, do not use, copy or disclose the information
in any way nor act in reliance on it and notify the sender
immediately. Please note that Nottingham City Council
monitors e-mails sent or received for the purposes of
ensuring compliance with its policies and procedures.
Further communication will signify your consent to this.
The contents of e-mails sent or received may have to be
disclosed if a relevant request is made under current
legislation, such as, but not limited to, the Data Protection
Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000

References

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Dear Charlotte Halls,

I'm not sure your reply is complete. I asked for figures on two separate years yet you have only provided one set of figures.

Please can you clarify otherwise I will have to request a formal review.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Platt

Charlotte Halls, Nottingham City Council

Dear Andy,

Thank you for your email. Please accept my apologies for this oversight in regards to the dates. I shall get in touch with the relevant department just after sending this email, and get the full response compiled for you.

Regards

Charlotte
--
Charlotte Halls

Senior Information Governance Officer
Resources

Nottingham City Council, Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3HX
Tel: 0115 87 63855
E-mail: [email address]

Website: www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk

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Charlotte Halls, Nottingham City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Platt,

Please find attached the response to this Freedom of Information request,
this time detailing the figures for 2008/2009. Again, I would like to
offer my apologies for our oversight in this matter.

Thank you.

Regards

Charlotte

--

Charlotte Halls

Senior Information Governance Officer
Resources

Nottingham City Council, Loxley House, Station Street , Nottingham, NG2
3HX
Tel: 0115 87 63855
E-mail: [1][email address]

Website: [2]www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Register to vote this year to have your say in the 2011 Nottingham City
Council Election. Politics affects you!
[3]www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/elections

show quoted sections

This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may
contain personal views which are not the views of
Nottingham City Council unless specifically stated.
If you have received it in error, please delete it from
your system, do not use, copy or disclose the information
in any way nor act in reliance on it and notify the sender
immediately. Please note that Nottingham City Council
monitors e-mails sent or received for the purposes of
ensuring compliance with its policies and procedures.
Further communication will signify your consent to this.
The contents of e-mails sent or received may have to be
disclosed if a relevant request is made under current
legislation, such as, but not limited to, the Data Protection
Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000

References

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http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/elections

Dear Nottingham City Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Nottingham City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Details of Discretionary Housing Payments "008/10'.

With regard to the statement that the working groups were merely internal meetings and therefore not minuted, I'm sorry but that is rubbish.

I used to work at NCC as manager of the welfare rights team so was closely involved with issues surrounding DHPs. I know for a fact that internal meetings were and are minuted, they may not have been intended for publication but that is irrelevant.

In addition, Cllr Trimble stated in an email that meetings were to be held with housing professionals and the advice sector, presumably including non NCC bodies. I have a number of years experience working for and with voluntary sector advice agencies and again, I know for a fact that they would not agree to attend meetings that were not minuted.

If there are no minutes then the only reasonable conclusion is that the meetings simply did not occur. There are a number of reasons why the Housing Benefits service would not wish this to become public, not least because they assured an elected member that they would.

I therefore cannot accept this aspect of your response and request a review. If the meetings have not gone ahead I would expect this to be confirmed.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/de...

Yours faithfully,

Andy Platt

Francis Irving left an annotation ()

Analysis of this by requester:

http://ncclols.blogspot.com/2010/08/and-...

Dear Charlotte Halls,

I understand that requests for reviews should normally be responded to within 20 working days under NCC's policy yet I have not received so much as an acknowledgement.

Please can you urgently update me on the progress of this case.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Platt

Charlotte Halls, Nottingham City Council

Dear Mr Platt,

Using the records I can access remotely, I believe that I acknowledged your email of Friday 13th August on Monday 16th August, and agreed that there was missing information, and apologised, advising that I would contact the relevant department to obtain the outstanding figures for you. Further to this, on the 23rd August I emailed over the missing information, again apologising for this error, which I see is attached at the bottom of this current email trail.

Please can you advise which information you believe to still be outstanding, or what you wish to have reviewed, as I thought we had now provided everything asked for in your request? I'm out of the office until the afternoon of Wednesday 29th September, but will look into this matter on my return. I have also copied the office in, in case there is some action that can be taken in the meantime.

Regards

Charlotte
--
Charlotte Halls
Senior Information Governance Officer

Information Governance
Resources
The Guildhall
Burton Street
Nottingham
NG1 4BT

Tel: (0115) 9154379
Fax: (0115) 9154082

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Dear Charlotte Halls,

I requested a review of the lack of provision of minutes of meetings, see

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/de...

Yours sincerely,

Andy Platt

Charlotte Halls, Nottingham City Council

I am out of the office now until 29th September 2010. If your email
requires urgent attention or is a formal request for information please
forward it to [Nottingham City Council request email]. Thank you. I
will respond to all other queries on my return. Please note that the
statutory timescale for a request for information does not commence until
it is received/opened by the Authority - therefore any requests for
information sent to this address and not forwarded on to
[Nottingham City Council request email] will not be received until I
return to the office.

Paying too much for the gym? Sign up to Flexible Fitness for just £28.95 a
month and get £50 cash back with no joining fee – saving you a total of
£80! [1]www.mynottingham.gov.uk/flexiblefitness

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This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may
contain personal views which are not the views of
Nottingham City Council unless specifically stated.
If you have received it in error, please delete it from
your system, do not use, copy or disclose the information
in any way nor act in reliance on it and notify the sender
immediately. Please note that Nottingham City Council
monitors e-mails sent or received for the purposes of
ensuring compliance with its policies and procedures.
Further communication will signify your consent to this.
The contents of e-mails sent or received may have to be
disclosed if a relevant request is made under current
legislation, such as, but not limited to, the Data Protection
Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000

References

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Charlotte Halls, Nottingham City Council

Dear Mr Platt,

Thank you for your email below. I didn't initially remember the provision of the minutes issue, as case officers don't undertake reviews of cases that their own cases, so I have not been working on the review.

To update you on the progress of this, I can confirm I have spoken with my Service Manager, Mrs Pearson, and she is undertaking a review for the minutes of the meeting, and an acknowledgement of this was sent to you on the 25th August 2010. The reference number for this is IGO/10-7457. Mrs Pearson is currently liaising with the Business Manager of the relevant area who is re-checking the records, and she will update you on her findings as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Charlotte Halls

--

Charlotte Halls

Senior Information Governance Officer
Resources

Nottingham City Council, Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3HX
Tel: 0115 87 63855
E-mail: [email address]

Website: www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Dear Charlotte Halls,

How long is this going to take? The review is nearly 2 weeks behind.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Platt

Charlotte Halls, Nottingham City Council

I am out of the office now until the afternoon of 14th October 2010. If
your email requires urgent attention or is a formal request for
information please forward it to
[Nottingham City Council request email]. Thank you. I will respond to
all other queries on my return. Please note that the statutory timescale
for a request for information does not commence until it is
received/opened by the Authority - therefore any requests for information
sent to this address and not forwarded on to
[Nottingham City Council request email] will not be received until I
return to the office.

Paying too much for the gym? Sign up to Flexible Fitness for just £28.95 a
month and get £50 cash back with no joining fee – saving you a total of
£80! [1]www.mynottingham.gov.uk/flexiblefitness

show quoted sections

This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may
contain personal views which are not the views of
Nottingham City Council unless specifically stated.
If you have received it in error, please delete it from
your system, do not use, copy or disclose the information
in any way nor act in reliance on it and notify the sender
immediately. Please note that Nottingham City Council
monitors e-mails sent or received for the purposes of
ensuring compliance with its policies and procedures.
Further communication will signify your consent to this.
The contents of e-mails sent or received may have to be
disclosed if a relevant request is made under current
legislation, such as, but not limited to, the Data Protection
Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000

References

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http://www.mynottingham.gov.uk/flexiblef...

Charlotte Halls, Nottingham City Council

Dear Mr Platt,

I will forward your message on to Glenn Estes and Stephanie Pearson as I'm not involved with this case any longer, as per my email below. I would also advise emailing [Nottingham City Council request email], as I'm part time, so don't see my emails until later in the week, which could delay an answer further.

Regards

Charlotte

--

Charlotte Halls

Senior Information Governance Officer
Resources

Nottingham City Council, Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3HX
Tel: 0115 87 63855
E-mail: [email address]

Website: www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Dear Charlotte Halls,

The problem is that the 'What Do They Know' site is only providing an option to reply to you and appears to be automatically removing email addresses from your responses.

If I had been sent an acknowledgement for my review request I presume that would have included a reply option for Mrs Pearson.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Platt

Information Governance, Nottingham City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Platt

Please find attached my response to your request for an internal review of
our initial reply to your enquiry about discretionary housing payments.
Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in providing you with
this response.

Yours sincerely

Stephanie Pearson

Information Governance Manager

Nottingham City Council

Loxley House, Station Street,

Nottingham, NG2 3NG

Tel: 0044 115 87 63855

Fax: 0044 115 87 63232

E-mail: [1][Nottingham City Council request email]

Web: [2]www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Walk the design trail, visit the local designers market and celebrate
style this month with Creative October 2010. Visit
[3]www.mynottingham.gov.uk/co for full details and event listings.

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This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may
contain personal views which are not the views of
Nottingham City Council unless specifically stated.
If you have received it in error, please delete it from
your system, do not use, copy or disclose the information
in any way nor act in reliance on it and notify the sender
immediately. Please note that Nottingham City Council
monitors e-mails sent or received for the purposes of
ensuring compliance with its policies and procedures.
Further communication will signify your consent to this.
The contents of e-mails sent or received may have to be
disclosed if a relevant request is made under current
legislation, such as, but not limited to, the Data Protection
Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000

References

Visible links
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http://www.mynottingham.gov.uk/co

Information Governance, Nottingham City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Platt

Further to additional dialogue with the Information Commissioners Office,
I have now re-instated the name of the previous Contractor to the attached
redacted document. The only information that is now being protected under
section 43(2) is the financial information and this is for the reasons
explained in my letter of 16^th May 2011. Please therefore accept this
email as a further refusal notice issued in accordance with section 17 of
the Act.

If you have any further queries or comments on this matter please contact
the Information Commissioners Office directly. A copy of this email and
attachment will be sent to them for reference.

Yours sincerely

Stephanie Pearson

Information Governance Manager

Nottingham City Council

Loxley House, Station Street,

Nottingham, NG2 3NG

Tel: 0044 115 87 63855

E-mail: [1][email address]

Web: [2]www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Nottingham Children**s Week, 28 May ** 5 June - join us for FREE and great
value events and activities for children and families to enjoy during May
half-term across the city [3]www.mynottingham.gov.uk/childrensweek

[4]Find us on [5]Find us on Facebook
[6]Follow us on [7]Follow us on twitter

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This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may
contain personal views which are not the views of
Nottingham City Council unless specifically stated.
If you have received it in error, please delete it from
your system, do not use, copy or disclose the information
in any way nor act in reliance on it and notify the sender
immediately. Please note that Nottingham City Council
monitors e-mails sent or received for the purposes of
ensuring compliance with its policies and procedures.
Further communication will signify your consent to this.
The contents of e-mails sent or received may have to be
disclosed if a relevant request is made under current
legislation, such as, but not limited to, the Data Protection
Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000

References

Visible links
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6. http://www.twitter.com/mynottingham
7. http://www.twitter.com/mynottingham

Dear Information Governance,

Thank you for this but could you please send these responses to the correct case? I get the info anyway but it is causing the MySociety volunteers extra work.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Platt