LOCOG costs for Olympic Torch Relay

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Somerset Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Somerset County Council,

Please can you send me the amount that LOCOG is paying to the SCC to cover the costs of the Olympic torch relay through Somerset?

Please include which costs for the torch relay were covered by the District council, namely Taunton Deane Borough council and which by LOCOG? This to include all aspects of costs; such as Highways management, advertising, road closures, extra staffing, events or refreshments.

I would like to receive this information in electronic format.

Yours faithfully,

Carol Miers

Somerset Direct - FOI, Somerset Council

Dear Carol

Thank you for contacting Somerset County Council. I have logged your FOI
request with the relevant department. Your reference number is 2245867.
If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact
us again.

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Robert Taylor

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The Deane House
Belvedere Road
Taunton
TA1 1HE

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Southwest One - working in partnership with
Somerset County Council, Taunton Deane
Borough Council & Avon and Somerset
Police.

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6373780

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Information Governance, Somerset Council

Dear Ms Miers

 

Thank you for your request made under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) 2000.

 

We are currently dealing with your request and will be in touch shortly
concerning disclosure of the information you have requested. If the
Council decides to apply a charge for processing your request, we will
also tell you.

 

The legislation obliges us to provide you with this information within 20
working days, so our response will be sent to you by 10-12-2012.

 

Please be aware that we now publish all responses to requests for
information made under the FOIA, without any details of the requestor, on
the Council’s website.

 

Please see:

 

[1]http://www.somerset.gov.uk/disclosurelog

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Governance Team

Client Services Team /  A2W

County Hall

Taunton

Som

TA1 4DY

 

Tel: 01823-357194

No mobile access

Web : [2]www.somerset.gov.uk

 

 

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whom it is addressed. It may contain personal and / or sensitive material
and should be handled according to the principles of the Data Protection
Act 1998. If this email carries a protective marking of PROTECT or
RESTRICTED in the header it should be handled according to HMG guidelines,
if not protectively marked it can be regarded as UNCLASSIFIED.

If this Email has been misdirected, please notify the author immediately.
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Whilst we take reasonable steps to try to identify any software viruses,
any attachments to this email may nevertheless contain viruses which our
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County Council will not accept any liability for damage caused by computer
viruses emanating from any attachment or other document supplied with this
email.

All GCSx traffic may be subject to recording and / or monitoring in
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Information Governance, Somerset Council

Somerset Direct ref: 2245867

Council Service ref: Res 1555

Date of request: 13-11-2012

Due date of response: 10-12-2012

Actual date of response: 15-11-2012

 

Dear Ms Miers

 

I am writing regarding your recent request for information to Somerset
County Council, which has been dealt with under the provisions of:

 

• The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (2000)

 

Your request concerned the cost to Somerset County Council (SCC) for
hosting the Olympic torch through the county.

 

Firstly, I can confirm that we hold some of this information and are able
to disclose it to you.

 

In response to your questions I can confirm the following:

 

Q.1 Please can you send me the amount that LOCOG is paying to SCC to cover
the costs of the Olympic torch relay through Somerset?

 

      A.1 Somerset County Council has invoiced the Olympic Delivery
Authority £12,260.23 for the signage which we provided on their behalf.

 

Q.2 Please include which costs for the torch relay were covered by the
District Council, namely Taunton Deane Borough Council (TDBC) and which by

LOCOG; this to include all aspects of costs; such as highways management,
advertising, road closures, extra staffing, events or refreshments.

 

      A.2 Somerset County Council does not hold any financial data
relating to TDBC; I suggest that you contact Taunton Deane Borough Council
at       

      [1][email address]

 

If you feel your request has not been answered in sufficient detail, or if
you wish to clarify the information given, please contact me and I will be
happy to address the issues you raise.

 

If you are not satisfied with the way we have dealt with your request, or
the information you have received, you can ask for an internal review of
our decision.

 

Please send your request to:

 

Peter Grogan

Corporate Information Governance Manager

Information Governance Team

Client Services Team / A2W

County Hall

Taunton

Somerset

TA1 4DY or email [2][email address]

 

We will carry out an internal review and we will write to you with the
results of our investigation.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for an appeal.

 

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF       Tel: 0303 – 123 1113

 

Please quote the reference numbers at the top of this letter in any future
correspondence.

 

Finally, please be aware that your response will appear, without your
contact details, on the Council’s website at:

 

[3]http://www.somerset.gov.uk/disclosurelog

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Governance Team

Client Services Team /  A2W

County Hall

Taunton

Som

TA1 4DY

 

Tel: 01823-357194

No mobile access

 

 

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This email, and any attachments is intended solely for the individual to
whom it is addressed. It may contain personal and / or sensitive material
and should be handled according to the principles of the Data Protection
Act 1998. If this email carries a protective marking of PROTECT or
RESTRICTED in the header it should be handled according to HMG guidelines,
if not protectively marked it can be regarded as UNCLASSIFIED.

If this Email has been misdirected, please notify the author immediately.
If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, distribute,
copy, print or rely on any of the information contained in it or attached,
and all copies must be deleted immediately. 

Whilst we take reasonable steps to try to identify any software viruses,
any attachments to this email may nevertheless contain viruses which our
anti-virus software has failed to identify.  You should therefore carry
out your own anti-virus checks before opening any documents.  Somerset
County Council will not accept any liability for damage caused by computer
viruses emanating from any attachment or other document supplied with this
email.

All GCSx traffic may be subject to recording and / or monitoring in
accordance with relevant legislation.

References

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3. blocked::http://www.somerset.gov.uk/disclosurelog
http://www.somerset.gov.uk/disclosurelog

Somerset Direct ref: 2245867

Council Service ref: Res 1555

Dear Mr Grogan, Information Governance,

Thank you for your response detailing the costs reclaimed by Somerset council from the ODA for the olympic torch relay.

Just to clarify, when I asked which costs were covered by TDBC I was referring to the letter from Jon Bazley 17 September which says that:
"I can also confirm that the costs incurred in advertising and implementing the road closures for the Olympic torch relay were £959. Taunton Deane
Borough Council will be invoiced for this amount by Somerset County Council."

That is there were costs to Somerset which are being reclaimed as far as your office has said. Some of these costs are being reclaimed directly, £12,260.23 for the signage according to your reply, but there are also claims by invoicing TDBC.

I hope that this clarifies it. So please can you send the information about the costs that are reclaimed through TDBC, that includes the £959 for the advertising and road closures?

Very many thanks. I would like this information to be in electronic format. Please do not hesitate to ask for clarification.

Yours sincerely,

Carol Miers

Information Governance, Somerset Council

7 Attachments

Dear Ms Miers

 

Please find attached a series of documents, and a link below (which gives
you a link to a key Council Cabinet decision) relating to the follow on
questions from your recent FOI request.

 

[1]http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/council/meet...

 

There is no further information available in the Council relating to your
request.

 

This is because all Council correspondence with LOCOG was with one
particular Council Officer who was on a short and fixed - term contract.
This staff member has long since left this authority, and in line with
good information governance practice, his emails and non-essential records
have all long since been deleted or destroyed.

 

This is why we are unable to locate any further data – despite an
extensive search among the files and emails of relevant Councillors and
senior managers.  

 

We can offer no further assistance with this particular request now.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Governance Team

Somerset County Council

 

 

     Dear Information Governance

    

     Please can you send me all the documents relating to the decision to
have or not to have the Olympic torch relay route pass through the
Somerset region?

    

     I would like this to include all the correspondence with LOCOG that
includes LOCOG's agreement to pay costs for the torch relay, and how much
LOCOG will be paying or have already paid for the torch

     relay procession that passed through Somerset.

    

     I would also like this to include the reaction from LOCOG after
option 4 to do nothing was decided upon.

    

     Please include all the subsequent correspondence (personal details
redacted) from

     [1]http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/council/port.... “the meeting of SCC
in March 2010 to the present day.

    

     I would like this information in electronic format, if you require

     further clarification please let me know

    

     Yours sincerely,

    

     Carol Miers

    

    

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Dear Information Governance,

Regarding the 'particular Council officer' or employee who dealt with all correspondence between LOCOG and the Council for the management of costs for hosting of the Olympic torch relay; How was this short-term position created and for what purpose?
Please explain where the funding for the position came from; ie if it was funded by LOCOG, or funded by a secondment from LOCOG or if it was a position especially created for the torch relay correspondence or what this position was?

Further, please send all the documents that explains your records management policy, in particular your schedule for records destruction relating to former employees.
I would like this information to be in electronic format. If you require further clarification please let me know.

Yours sincerely,

Carol Miers

Information Governance, Somerset Council

Dear Ms Miers

The staff member who dealt with the Olympic torch relay had no real connection with LOCOG, since the position he held was created for the Tour of Britain cycle race the year before. His experience in this was used for the torch relay before he left the Council.

The Somerset County Council Records Management Policy is still in draft form, having recently been revised, and not ready to be released yet into the public domain.

Yours sincerely

Information Governance Team

Tel: 01823-357194

Web : www.somerset.gov.uk

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Dear Information Governance,

Please can you send the SCC Managements Policy that was in operation when the staff member who dealt with the Olympic torch relay, left?

Please can you also send documents relating to the drafting of the new policy, that is, that include all guidance and recommendations?

Please let me know if you wish me to clarify any points.

Yours faithfully

Carol A M Miers

Yours sincerely,

carolmiers

Information Governance, Somerset Council

Dear Ms Miers

Thank you for your email.

I hope to be able to respond shortly to this request.

Yours sincerely

Information Governance Team

Tel: 01823-357194

Web : www.somerset.gov.uk

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Information Governance, Somerset Council

4 Attachments

Dear Ms Miers

 

Thank you for your email.

 

Please find attached the SCC Records Managements Policy (in excel form)
that was in operation when the staff member who dealt with the Olympic
torch relay left, and also the draft versions of the new supplementary
policies around data retention / destruction and records management.

 

These draft polices are now able to be released into the public domain by
the Records Manager.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Governance Team

 

Tel: 01823-357194

 

Web : [1]www.somerset.gov.uk

 

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Dear Information Governance,

Further to the earlier FOI request regarding correspondence with LOCOG which documents their agreement to cover Somerset costs for hosting the torch relay after Somerset's decision May 2010 not to host the torch.
Your reply:
"There is no further information available in the Council relating to your request. This is because all Council correspondence with LOCOG was with one
particular Council Officer who was on a short and fixed - term contract."

The employee on the short-term contract left in August 2011, so please send correspondence after this date?
I would like this to be in electronic format

Yours sincerely,

Carol Miers

Business Development - Resources, Somerset Council

Dear Ms Miers

 

Thank you for your email dated 03 April 2013. 

 

On the 04 April 2013 I sent you a reply to your Freedom of Information
request reference 1677. 

 

We responded as follows.

 

Somerset County Council officers held verbal conversations with the London
Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).  These
verbal conversations were not recorded, and the officers in question have
now left the organisation, we are therefore unable to provide any further
data.

 

As stated below, after the departure in August 2011 of the Council Officer
who had some limited involvement with LOCOG, there was no further
correspondence involving Somerset County Council.

 

Consequently we are unable to release any further data to you.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Lucy Wilkins

01823 359173

Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Co-ordinator

Somerset County Council, County Hall, Taunton, TA1 4DY

Email: [1][email address]

 

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