Legal expenses in last 5 years ( for Cym Taf Morgannwg Univ Health Board)

The request was partially successful.

Dear NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership,

Please would you tell me-

1.The total annual expenses of NWSSP's legal & Risk Services/division over
the last 5 years (Including the legal costs incurred for defending cases and
Solicitors' salary)

2. How many Solicitors are employed /contracted under this service on an annual
basis for the last 5 years please?

3. What is the percentage of this expense from/for the Cym Taf Morgannwg University Health Board's total annual expenses please over the last 5 years please?

As it is tax payers money it would be good to know in public interests.

Yours faithfully,

Naren S

Tim Knifton (NWSSP - Information Governance), NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership

Dear Naren,

Happy New Year to you.

Thank you for your FOI request received on the 4th January 2021. I notice that you have submitted this twice using your personal email address and through this portal.

I will acknowledge and address your request directly to your personal email address today. Therefore, I will disregard this request and close it our end.

I hope that this is sufficient.

Tim

Tim Knifton, MSc Gwybodeg Iechyd/Health Informatics
Rheolwr Rheoli Gwybodaeth/Information Governance Manager
Partneriaeth Cydwasanaethau GIG Cymru/NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership   
e-bost/ email: [email address]
Rhyngrwyd • Internet: www.nwssp.wales.nhs.uk
Twitter: @nwssp

Dw i ddim yn deall Cymraeg. Fodd bynnag mae PCGC yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn y Gymraeg neu Saesneg.
I’m not able to understand Welsh. However NWSSP welcomes correspondence in Welsh or English.

'Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau sy'n cyd-fynd gyda’r e-bost hwn, ddim ond ar gyfer defnydd priodol y derbynnydd/ion, a gall gynnwys gwybodaeth sy'n freintiedig, yn gyfrinachol neu eithriedig rhag cael ei ddatgelu. Os nad yw'r darllenydd yn dderbynnydd a fwriadwyd i dderbyn yr e-bost, gwaherddir unrhyw ddatgeliad, dosbarthiad neu unrhyw gamau eraill y cymerwyd neu sydd heb gael eu cymryd gan ddibynnu arno, a gallai fod yn anghyfreithlon. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn trwy gamgymeriad, dilewch o'ch system ac yn rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith. Bydd y sawl sy’n datgelu unrhyw wybodaeth heb awdurdod i ddatgelu’r wybodaeth a gynhwysir yn yr e-bost yn cael eu gwahardd yn llym.’

‘This e-mail and any files that accompany it are intended only for the appropriate use of the addressee/s, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure. If the reader is not an intended recipient, any disclosure, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this e-mail in error, please delete it from your system and notify the sender immediately. Any unauthorised disclosure of the information contained in this e-mail is strictly prohibited, as is use or application of its contents other than for its intended purpose’

show quoted sections

Dear Tim Knifton (NWSSP - Information Governance),

Thanks. Hope you can answer at both places as in the true spirit of the information it has to be available to the public.

Yours sincerely,

Naren S

Tim Knifton (NWSSP - Information Governance), NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership

Hi 
Information is normally made available in the spirit of the act on request
above and beyond the requirement of a publication scheme. We will reply to
one of your email addresses rather than duplicate this information across
several email addresses send individually from separate accounts. 
Please see my other email regarding the clarification of your request.
Please reply once you have read this. 
Thank you
Tim 

show quoted sections

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[FOI #715641 email]

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.nwssp.wales.nhs.uk/
2. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
3. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Dear Tim Knifton (NWSSP - Information Governance),

My humble request to you is to uphold my right to prefer for you to reply in this domain for all readers in public intersts, to view, could you kindly respect that please?

You have not yet had the courtesy to acknowledge in my email so far nor address me with respect as above. I am sorry to mention this here. Hope you take this in the right spirit of education. Thanks.

Yours sincerely,

Naren Seshadri

Tim Knifton (NWSSP - Information Governance), NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership

Dear Nareen.
I have acknowledged your request both here and at your gmail account when
this came into the organisation.
I have kindly informed you that I would treat your request at one or the
other account but not both. I will therefore reply here and will send you
the request for clarification that I sent when acknowledging your request
previously.
I will send you the points of clarification and my initial thoughts on the
points you raised when I am next in work tomorrow (Monday 17th January). I
have, with all due respect, treated your request for information so far,
but I have replied using your personal gmail account.
Will be in touch tomorrow. 
Tim

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Naren S <[FOI #715641 email]>
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2021 4:51 am
To: Tim Knifton (NWSSP - Information Governance)
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Legal expenses in last 5
years ( for Cym Taf Morgannwg Univ Health Board)
 
Dear Tim Knifton (NWSSP - Information Governance),

My humble request to you is to uphold my right to prefer for you to reply
in this domain for all readers in public intersts, to view, could you
kindly respect that please?

You have not yet had the courtesy to acknowledge in my email so far nor
address me with respect as above. I am sorry to mention this here. Hope
you take this in the right spirit of education. Thanks.

Yours sincerely,

Naren Seshadri

show quoted sections

Tim Knifton (NWSSP - Information Governance), NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership

Managed to find my response send direct to your gmail account - please see
questions to your points raised below.

Good morning Mr Seshadri,

 

Thank you for your request received today in relation to your request for
information regarding Legal and Risk Services.

 

This is an acknowledgement that your request will be handled under the
aforementioned Act and will be facilitated through those processes.

 

Before I ask the relevant department for the information, please can you
provide some clarification on your request, my questions are in red below.

 

You asked:

1.The total annual expenses towards NWSSP's legal  & Risk
Services/division over the  last  5  years  (Including  the  legal  costs 
incurred  for  defending  cases  and Solicitors' salary) as it is tax
payers money it would be good to know in public interests. Please could
you tell me if this is still just the information on expenses for Cwm Taf
University Health Board?

2. How many Solicitors are employed /contracted under this service on an
annual basis for the last 5 years please? Is this how many solicitors as a
whole in NHS Wales employed under Legal and Risk Services as Cwm Taf
University Health Board doesn’t employ solicitors or has a department
allocated to just them?

3. What is the percentage of this expense from the Hospital Board's total
annual expenses please over the last 5 years please? This we cannot answer
as the budget of the Health Board is not something we manage, however the
annual report including the accounts can be accessed online and you could
work out the percentage from the information in point 1.

 

If you could let me know your responses to each of these points, then the
request will be reviewed and information (where available) will be
provided. Please note, as you can appreciate, the NHS has experienced
extreme pressures since the pandemic in 2020 and in some circumstances,
requests may take longer than the standard 20 working days to complete.
However, the NWSSP will endeavour to complete requests as quickly as
possible in most cases.

 

Regards,

 

Tim

 

Tim Knifton, MSc Gwybodeg Iechyd/Health Informatics

Rheolwr Rheoli Gwybodaeth/Information Governance Manager

Partneriaeth Cydwasanaethau GIG Cymru/NHS Wales Shared Services
Partnership   

e-bost/ email: [1][email address]

Rhyngrwyd • Internet: www.nwssp.wales.nhs.uk

Twitter: [2]@nwssp

 

Dw i ddim yn deall Cymraeg.  Fodd bynnag mae PCGC yn croesawu gohebiaeth
yn y Gymraeg neu Saesneg.

I’m not able to understand Welsh.  However NWSSP welcomes correspondence
in Welsh or English.

 

'Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau sy'n cyd-fynd gyda’r e-bost hwn, ddim
ond ar gyfer defnydd priodol y derbynnydd/ion, a gall gynnwys gwybodaeth
sy'n freintiedig, yn gyfrinachol neu eithriedig rhag cael ei ddatgelu. Os
nad yw'r darllenydd yn dderbynnydd a fwriadwyd i dderbyn yr e-bost,
gwaherddir unrhyw ddatgeliad, dosbarthiad neu unrhyw gamau eraill y
cymerwyd neu sydd heb gael eu cymryd gan ddibynnu arno, a gallai fod yn
anghyfreithlon. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn trwy gamgymeriad,
dilewch o'ch system ac yn rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith. Bydd y sawl
sy’n datgelu unrhyw wybodaeth heb awdurdod i ddatgelu’r wybodaeth a
gynhwysir yn yr e-bost yn cael eu gwahardd yn llym.’

 

‘This e-mail and any files that accompany it are intended only for the
appropriate use of the addressee/s, and may contain information that is
privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure. If the reader is not
an intended recipient, any disclosure, distribution or any action taken or
omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful.
If you have received this e-mail in error, please delete it from your
system and notify the sender immediately. Any unauthorised disclosure of
the information contained in this e-mail is strictly prohibited, as is use
or application of its contents other than for its intended purpose’

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Tim Knifton (NWSSP - Information Governance)
<[email address]>
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2021 9:15 am
To: Naren S
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Legal expenses in last 5
years ( for Cym Taf Morgannwg Univ Health Board)
 
Dear Nareen.
I have acknowledged your request both here and at your gmail account when
this came into the organisation.
I have kindly informed you that I would treat your request at one or the
other account but not both. I will therefore reply here and will send you
the request for clarification that I sent when acknowledging your request
previously.
I will send you the points of clarification and my initial thoughts on the
points you raised when I am next in work tomorrow (Monday 17th January). I
have, with all due respect, treated your request for information so far,
but I have replied using your personal gmail account.
Will be in touch tomorrow. 
Tim

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Naren S <[FOI #715641 email]>
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2021 4:51 am
To: Tim Knifton (NWSSP - Information Governance)
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Legal expenses in last 5
years ( for Cym Taf Morgannwg Univ Health Board)
 
Dear Tim Knifton (NWSSP - Information Governance),

My humble request to you is to uphold my right to prefer for you to reply
in this domain for all readers in public intersts, to view, could you
kindly respect that please?

You have not yet had the courtesy to acknowledge in my email so far nor
address me with respect as above. I am sorry to mention this here. Hope
you take this in the right spirit of education. Thanks.

Yours sincerely,

Naren Seshadri

show quoted sections

Tim Knifton (NWSSP - Information Governance), NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership

Dear Mr Seshadri,

 

Thank you for your earlier request made to the NHS Wales Shared Services
Partnership (NWSSP) dated 3^rd January 2021.

 

Further to my earlier acknowledgement to both your personal email address
and the ‘Whatdotheyknow.com’ portal, I now have the following information
relating to your request.

 

I have spoken to my Legal and Risk Services colleagues regarding your
queries relating to the Cwm Taf University Health Board (CTUHB)
requirements for legal support and services provided and these questions
and the subsequent answers have been provided below for ease of reference.

 

You asked:

 

Q1.The total annual expenses towards NWSSP's legal & Risk
Services/division over the last 5 years (Including the legal costs
incurred for defending cases and Solicitors' salary) as it is tax payers
money it would be good to know in public interests.

 

Legal and Risk Services’ main source of funding comes out of the
allocation of funds/annual budget that is assigned to the entire NHS Wales
Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP). In addition there is some directly
chargeable activity, but not all of that relates to litigation. This is
further complicated by the fact that a primary goal of NWSSP is to save
money for the Health Bodies in NHS Wales and in that context it annually
pays money back to them. Therefore it would be an impossible task to
attribute a portion of the budget to the legal work completed for and on
behalf of Cwm Taf University Health Board, as it is an un-apportioned sum.

 

Based on the information provided above, to determine what element of
total legal costs from the budget that would make up the element of the
service provided to CTUHB would not reasonably be possible to achieve. In
any event the time required to attempt such an analysis would breach the
Freedom of Information threshold of cost and the associated effort.
Therefore NWSSP relies upon the exemption under section 12(1) (Costs of
compliance exceeds the appropriate limit) of the Freedom of Information
Act. 

 

More can be found on the particular exemption here:
[1]https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

 

Q2. How many Solicitors are employed /contracted under this service on an
annual basis for the last 5 years please? 

 

Following on from question 1. NWSSP Legal and Risk Services cannot answer
this question as NWSSP Legal and Risk Services solicitors work across the
entire NHS Wales landscape and therefore there is no method or definitive
way to calculate how the NWSSP could produce an accurate figure based on
this question.

 

Q3. What is the percentage of this expense from the Hospital Board's total
annual expenses please over the last 5 years please?

 

This question we cannot answer as the budget of the Health Board is not
something we manage, CTUHB produce their own annual report and accounts
and this would not be something that we could either comment on or
provide.

 

I am sorry that we are unable to answer your questions on this occasion
but I hope that the explanations provided above explains our position. If
you have any follow up questions relating to the answers provided, then
please send them to me at your convenience.

 

In our duty to advise and assist all applicants under the guidelines of
the Freedom of Information Act (2000) we have facilitated your request and
have followed our processes to ensure that you have been provided with a
response.

 

Should you be dissatisfied with the process followed then you have the
right to request that we conduct an internal review. If you would like us
to conduct such a review, please contact us within two months of the date
of this letter to my email address below: 

 

FOI- Internal Review Request

[2][email address]

 

If you are still dissatisfied following the Internal Review, you have the
right under Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act (2000) to appeal
against the decision by contacting the Information Commissioner:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office,

2nd Floor, Churchill House,

17 Churchill Way, CF10 2HH

Email: [3][email address]

Website: [4]www.ico.org.uk

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Tim Knifton, MSc Gwybodeg Iechyd/Health Informatics

Rheolwr Rheoli Gwybodaeth/Information Governance Manager

Partneriaeth Cydwasanaethau GIG Cymru/NHS Wales Shared Services
Partnership   

e-bost/ email: [5][email address]

Rhyngrwyd • Internet: [6]www.nwssp.wales.nhs.uk

Twitter: [7]@nwssp

 

Dw i ddim yn deall Cymraeg.  Fodd bynnag mae PCGC yn croesawu gohebiaeth
yn y Gymraeg neu Saesneg.

 

I’m not able to understand Welsh.  However NWSSP welcomes correspondence
in Welsh or English.

 

'Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau sy'n cyd-fynd gyda’r e-bost hwn, ddim
ond ar gyfer defnydd priodol y derbynnydd/ion, a gall gynnwys gwybodaeth
sy'n freintiedig, yn gyfrinachol neu eithriedig rhag cael ei ddatgelu. Os
nad yw'r darllenydd yn dderbynnydd a fwriadwyd i dderbyn yr e-bost,
gwaherddir unrhyw ddatgeliad, dosbarthiad neu unrhyw gamau eraill y
cymerwyd neu sydd heb gael eu cymryd gan ddibynnu arno, a gallai fod yn
anghyfreithlon. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn trwy gamgymeriad,
dilewch o'ch system ac yn rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith. Bydd y sawl
sy’n datgelu unrhyw wybodaeth heb awdurdod i ddatgelu’r wybodaeth a
gynhwysir yn yr e-bost yn cael eu gwahardd yn llym.’

 

‘This e-mail and any files that accompany it are intended only for the
appropriate use of the addressee/s, and may contain information that is
privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure. If the reader is not
an intended recipient, any disclosure, distribution or any action taken or
omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful.
If you have received this e-mail in error, please delete it from your
system and notify the sender immediately. Any unauthorised disclosure of
the information contained in this e-mail is strictly prohibited, as is use
or application of its contents other than for its intended purpose’

 

 

 

Tim Knifton, MSc Gwybodeg Iechyd/Health Informatics

Rheolwr Rheoli Gwybodaeth/Information Governance Manager

Partneriaeth Cydwasanaethau GIG Cymru/NHS Wales Shared Services
Partnership   

e-bost/ email: [8][email address]

Rhyngrwyd • Internet: [9]www.nwssp.wales.nhs.uk

Twitter: [10]@nwssp

 

Dw i ddim yn deall Cymraeg.  Fodd bynnag mae PCGC yn croesawu gohebiaeth
yn y Gymraeg neu Saesneg.

 

I’m not able to understand Welsh.  However NWSSP welcomes correspondence
in Welsh or English.

 

'Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau sy'n cyd-fynd gyda’r e-bost hwn, ddim
ond ar gyfer defnydd priodol y derbynnydd/ion, a gall gynnwys gwybodaeth
sy'n freintiedig, yn gyfrinachol neu eithriedig rhag cael ei ddatgelu. Os
nad yw'r darllenydd yn dderbynnydd a fwriadwyd i dderbyn yr e-bost,
gwaherddir unrhyw ddatgeliad, dosbarthiad neu unrhyw gamau eraill y
cymerwyd neu sydd heb gael eu cymryd gan ddibynnu arno, a gallai fod yn
anghyfreithlon. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn trwy gamgymeriad,
dilewch o'ch system ac yn rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith. Bydd y sawl
sy’n datgelu unrhyw wybodaeth heb awdurdod i ddatgelu’r wybodaeth a
gynhwysir yn yr e-bost yn cael eu gwahardd yn llym.’

 

‘This e-mail and any files that accompany it are intended only for the
appropriate use of the addressee/s, and may contain information that is
privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure. If the reader is not
an intended recipient, any disclosure, distribution or any action taken or
omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful.
If you have received this e-mail in error, please delete it from your
system and notify the sender immediately. Any unauthorised disclosure of
the information contained in this e-mail is strictly prohibited, as is use
or application of its contents other than for its intended purpose’

 

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.ico.org.uk/
5. mailto:[email address]
6. file:///tmp/applewebdata:/6254C1B1-851E-4744-A91E-52EBC012CB25/www.nwssp.wales.nhs.uk
7. mailto:@nwssp
8. mailto:[email address]
9. file:///tmp/applewebdata:/6254C1B1-851E-4744-A91E-52EBC012CB25/www.nwssp.wales.nhs.uk
10. mailto:@nwssp