Invoices above £500
Gary Henderson made this Freedom of Information request to Shetland Islands Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear Shetland Islands Council,
I request a list of all invoices received by and paid by Shetland Islands Council over the cost of £500, containing the total paid cost and company/organisation/name, address , and dates the invoices were paid.
I request this information for the financial years; 2014/2015, 2015/2016 & 2016/2017
Yours faithfully,
Gary Henderson
Mr Henderson
We acknowledge receipt of your request for information.
This is receiving attention, and we will provide you with a response as soon as possible.
Regards, L Adamson
Louise Adamson
Committee Officer
Shetland Islands Council
Montfield
Burgh Road
Lerwick
Shetland
ZE1 0LA
Tel: 01595 744555
Dear Sir
I refer to your request of 15 February 2017. Please find attached a
response from our Finance Section.
Attached is a list of the invoices as requested. We have removed non
invoice payments such as fostering, grants etc.
For info the:-
1. Supplier Name "Sundry By BACS" and "Sundry by CHQ" and
Electronic Bank Payments - Direct Debit" are for companies that we are
only likely to pay once so do not retain them as a permanent record.
2. Supplier Name "SIC Purchasing Cards" are purchases made by a
Corporate Credit Card. The total for each line is the value of all
transactions for that month for an individual cardholder. This will almost
always be made up of several separate lower value transactions.
I trust that this response meets your request. However, if you are
dissatisfied with the way in which the Council has dealt with your request
for information then you may ask the authority to review its actions and
decisions in relation to your request, by submitting a formal appeal. The
process for lodging appeals is set out in the attached leaflet.
Kind Regards
Shona Irvine
Business Support Assistant
Shetland Islands Council
Dear Shetland Islands Council,
Thank you for the information supplied, it is much appreciated and I look forward to working with you in the future.
Yours faithfully,
Gary Henderson
Dear Shetland Islands Council,
I note the file you attached with the information requested is now corrupt and I am unable to open? Could you please resend as to avoid having to resubmit FOI request.
Yours faithfully,
Gary Henderson
Hi Gary
I have attached the spreadsheet again, let me know if you have any success opening it.
Many thanks
Shona
Dear Shetland Islands Council,
There are £6,440,578.04 of sundry payments without records can you account for these payments.
Yours faithfully,
Gary Henderson
All payments made by the Council are accounted for through our financial reporting systems, and subject to approved and authorised policy and procedures, including audit.
Regards
Anne Cogle
Team Leader - Administration
Governance and Law Service
Shetland Islands Council
Corporate Services Department
Montfield
Burgh Road
LERWICK
Shetland
ZE1 0LA
Tel: 01595 744554
Fax: 01595 744585
www.shetland.gov.uk
Dear Shetland Islands Council,
These payments have been made from public service funds and as a member of the public I have a right to know that these funds are being managed responsibly, the lack of transparency gives me concern with the cost on sundry costs being excessive at £6,440,578.04 and management credit cards costs at £ 1,202,184.58 for a 3 year period with no explanation for either cost.
I will update FOI as partial success but should you disclose the information requested I will update it to successful, to make the task simpler for you I will only ask you to provide details on sundry payment over £5000 and a valid reasoning for the excessive amount of expenditure on management credit cards
I note from reading similar requests to other larger authorities no other council has this level of expenditure on unaccounted sundry expenditure and management credit cards.
Yours faithfully,
Gary Henderson
Dear Mr Henderson,
Thank you for your e-mail of 27 March 2017. This is receiving attention and we will provide you with a response as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Jayne Irvine
Business Support Assistant
Shetland Islands Council
Montfield
Burgh Road
Lerwick
Shetland
ZE1 0LA
Ref. FOI 7335
Dear Mr Henderson,
I refer to your e-mail of 27 March 2017.
Attached is a spreadsheet with the Sundry Items over £5,000. Shetland Islands Council's Finance Service use Sundry Accounts as a means of paying invoices to suppliers that they are likely to only use once. These invoices go through the same checking and approval process as all other invoices with full details available but they are not stored in the same way making retrieval less straightforward.
Credit Cards are used "if no other form of payment is accepted/practical or there is a substantial saving to be made". These can be online payments of goods and services such as from online retailers. They are also used to book travel (flights, trains, accommodation etc) which can be a substantial cost overhead for the Shetland Islands Council given our remote location. Travel related items make up around 2 thirds of the Credit Card spend.
I trust that this response meets your request. However, if you are dissatisfied with the way in which the Council has dealt with your request for information then you may ask the authority to review its actions and decisions in relation to your request, by submitting a formal appeal. The process for lodging appeals is set out in the attached leaflet.
Yours sincerely,
Jayne Irvine
Business Support Assistant
Shetland Islands Council
Executive Services
Town Hall
Lerwick
Shetland
ZE1 0HB
Ref. FOI 7335
Dear Jayne
I thank you for the information supplied and efficiency it is again appreciated.
Yours faithfully,
Gary Henderson
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