Brent Council - INFORMATION REQUEST

Our Reference: 222110568
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Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your request for information received on 27 April 2014. We
aim to respond to your request within 20 working days. If for any reason
we are unable to meet this deadline we will keep you fully informed of the
reasons for this and let you know how long the delay will be. If there is
a fee to be paid before the information can be sent to you we will write
and tell you at the earliest opportunity what the fee will be.

Yours faithfully

Veni Kotak
Phone: 020 8937 2410
[email address]
 

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Brent Council - INFORMATION REQUEST

Our Reference: 222110568
====================================================

Dear Sir/Madam,

Your request for information has now been considered and our response is
below.

The only software we have installed on iphones was MobileIron, our Mobile
Device Management application, used to secure these devices for connecting
to the corporate email system. The cost of this is included within the
purchase price quoted in your request.
 
We have not purchased any apps; we are only providing the phones with the
apps that come preinstalled with the phone (including the built-in email
application). Individual users are allowed, at their expense, to download
and install apps. Robust systems are in place to ensure that this can only
be done by payment from the employee rather than from council funds and we
conduct periodic audits to confirm that inappropriate apps are not
downloaded.
Please note that the information provided may be subject to copyright and
you may require further permission from the Council to re-use it. If you
require further guidance please write to FOI (contact details below).

If you are dissatisfied with the response or how the Council has handled
your request you can complain to the Council by writing to the following
address: FOI at Brent Civic Centre, Floor 4, Engineers Way, Wembley HA9
0FJ.  Telephone 020 8937 1426, e-mail [1][Brent Borough Council request email].  It is the
Council's policy to ensure that, where practicable, your complaint is
dealt with by someone who was not involved in the original decision.  You
also have a right of appeal about our decision to the Information
Commissioner, however, the Information Commissioner will not normally
consider an appeal until you have exhausted your rights of redress and
complaint to the Council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted as
follows:

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF; Telephone: 01625 545 700,
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

As part of our commitment to improve our service to our customers we would
welcome any feedback on the way that we have dealt with your request.

Yours faithfully

Veni Kotak

[email address]
 

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The use of Brent Council's e-mail system may be monitored and
communications read in order to secure effective operation of the system
and other lawful purposes.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Brent Borough Council request email]

Brent Council - INFORMATION REQUEST

Our Reference: 222131489
====================================================

Dear Sir/Madam

I acknowledge your request for information received on 15 May 2014.

To help us to respond to your request could you please clarify the time
period which you would like the data to cover.

The 20 working day timetable for responding to your request is halted
whilst we await the further details requested. If these are not received
within 60 days of this letter the request will be closed.

Yours faithfully

Tony Ozanne,
FOI Officer for Human Resources
Phone: 020 8937 1365
[email address]
 

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and other lawful purposes.

Dear Sir/Madam

Further to your email below, please find attached a spread sheet with the
requested information.

Regards.

Veni Kotak

Information Management Officer

Information Technology Unit

Brent Council

Tel:  020 8937 2410

Mob: +447867183883

Fax:  020 8937 6038

[1]www.brent.gov.uk  

show quoted sections

Dear Ms Salisbury

Thank you for your email below and we acknowledge receipt. We should be in a position to send a response early next week.

Regards.

Veni Kotak
Information Management Officer
Information Technology Unit
Brent Council

www.brent.gov.uk  

show quoted sections

Dear Ms Salisbury,

Please find attached a list of apps downloaded on council issued iPhones and the number of times they have been downloaded.

It should be noted that the list contains some apps downloaded on people’s personal iPhones. There are instances where people's personal iPhones have been incorrectly recorded as council issued and it is difficult to make a distinction without checking every entry.

If you are dissatisfied with our response you can request an internal review with the council, or raise an issue directly with the Information Commissioner's Office (www.ico.gov.uk).

Regards,

Rajesh Seedher
Information Governance Manager
Information Technology Unit
Finance and IT
Brent Council
Telephone 020 8937 1402
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The use of Brent Council's e-mail system may be monitored and communications read in order to secure effective operation of the system and other lawful purposes.

Brent Council - INFORMATION REQUEST

Our Reference: 222131489
====================================================

Dear Sir/Madam,

Your request for information has now been considered and the information
requested is as follows:
 

Agency workers are recruited via our managed vendor Reed Global Limited.
In the last financial year (01/04/13 to 31/03/14), expenditure on agency
temporary staff was £15million.

In the same financial year, expenditure on interims or consultants was
£5million. At 31^st March 2014, we had 44 interims / consultants and an
average of 308 agency workers. Depending on the role’s requirements and
the skill-set of the interim or consultant, the average daily rate was
£414.

The details of monthly expenditure of over £500 are regularly published on
the Council’s website, at the following link:

[1]http://www.brent.gov.uk/your-council/tra...

Please note that the information provided may be subject to copyright and
you may require further permission from the Council to re-use it. If you
require further guidance please write to FOI (contact details below).

If you are dissatisfied with the response or how the Council has handled
your request you can complain to the Council by writing to the following
address: FOI at Brent Civic Centre, Floor 4, Engineers Way, Wembley HA9
0FJ.  Telephone 020 8937 1426, e-mail [2][Brent Borough Council request email].  It is the
Council's policy to ensure that, where practicable, your complaint is
dealt with by someone who was not involved in the original decision.  You
also have a right of appeal about our decision to the Information
Commissioner, however, the Information Commissioner will not normally
consider an appeal until you have exhausted your rights of redress and
complaint to the Council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted as
follows:

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF; Telephone: 01625 545 700,
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

As part of our commitment to improve our service to our customers we would
welcome any feedback on the way that we have dealt with your request.

Yours faithfully

Tony Ozanne,
FOI Officer for Human Resources

Phone: 020 8937 1365
[email address]
 

--
The use of Brent Council's e-mail system may be monitored and
communications read in order to secure effective operation of the system
and other lawful purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.brent.gov.uk/your-council/tra...
2. mailto:[Brent Borough Council request email]

Dear S Salisbury

We are sorry for the delay in responding to your email. I have asked the department concerned to undertake an Internal Review. The timetable for responding to Internal Reviews is 20 working days from complaint, although this can be extended to 40 wd where the issues are complex.

Where practicable the review will be undertaken by a senior manager who has not involved in handling the request.

Regards

[Brent Borough Council request email]

Brent Civic Centre
Engineers Way
Wembley HA9 0FJ

020 8937 1426

show quoted sections

Dear Applicant,

You have raised a request for an Internal Review relating to the handling
of your Freedom of Information request ‘Money spent on iPhone apps’

I have investigated your request and concluded that it is likely that the
council has breached its obligations under the freedom of information
request because the final response was sent past the 20 working day
deadline required under the Act.

In response to your specific questions, I have provided my findings below.

a) They breached the 20 days and I would like to know why.

The information related to the request contained some data about people’s
personal iPhones as well as council issued iPhones because the council
permits bring your own devices. To differentiate the data, a considerable
amount of time would have been required to validate the data against each
iPhone user. Normally, this request would have been refused as a result of
exceeding the “appropriate limit” of £450 specified under the Act.  It is
Council policy not to supply information that exceeds this cost ceiling
and this is permitted by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection
(Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.  This £450 cost ceiling
equates to 2 ½ days of officer time spent in gathering and compiling
information.  We estimate that it would take at least 7 working days to
comply with your request. However, in consideration of the spirit of the
Act, it was decided that some information would be sent. This should have
been explained to you at the time.

b) They asked a clarifying question to attempt to delay giving the
information.

It is not council policy to attempt to delay giving information by asking
clarification questions. The time period covered is important in
determining the data required because it affected the period that
monitoring/tracking of applications commenced.

c) When they initially gave the information they had censored it by only
giving the 'top 20'. This is clearly in breach of the spirit of the FOI
Act.

Providing the top 20 would have resolved the issue of applications
installed on people’s personal iPhones because apps on people’s personal
iPhones should be smaller in number.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at, Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF; website [1]www.ico.gov.uk  .

Rajesh Seedher

Information Governance Manager

Information Technology Unit

Finance and IT

Brent Council

Telephone 020 8937 1402

--
The use of Brent Council's e-mail system may be monitored and
communications read in order to secure effective operation of the system
and other lawful purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.gov.uk/

Dear Applicant,

You have raised a request for an Internal Review relating to the handling
of your Freedom of Information request ‘Money spent on iPhone apps’

I have investigated your request and concluded that it is likely that the
council has breached its obligations under the freedom of information
request because the final response was sent past the 20 working day
deadline required under the Act.

In response to your specific questions, I have provided my findings below.

a) They breached the 20 days and I would like to know why.

The information related to the request contained some data about people’s
personal iPhones as well as council issued iPhones because the council
permits bring your own devices. To differentiate the data, a considerable
amount of time would have been required to validate the data against each
iPhone user. Normally, this request would have been refused as a result of
exceeding the “appropriate limit” of £450 specified under the Act.  It is
Council policy not to supply information that exceeds this cost ceiling
and this is permitted by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection
(Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.  This £450 cost ceiling
equates to 2 ½ days of officer time spent in gathering and compiling
information.  We estimate that it would take at least 7 working days to
comply with your request. However, in consideration of the spirit of the
Act, it was decided that some information would be sent. This should have
been explained to you at the time.

b) They asked a clarifying question to attempt to delay giving the
information.

It is not council policy to attempt to delay giving information by asking
clarification questions. The time period covered is important in
determining the data required because it affected the period that
monitoring/tracking of applications commenced.

c) When they initially gave the information they had censored it by only
giving the 'top 20'. This is clearly in breach of the spirit of the FOI
Act.

Providing the top 20 would have resolved the issue of applications
installed on people’s personal iPhones because apps on people’s personal
iPhones should be smaller in number.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at, Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF; website [1]www.ico.gov.uk  .

Sean Green

Interim Operations Director ICT
Information Technology Unit

Finance and IT Department

London Borough of Brent

Direct Line 0208 937 1400

[2]www.brent.gov.uk

--
The use of Brent Council's e-mail system may be monitored and
communications read in order to secure effective operation of the system
and other lawful purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
2. http://www.brent.gov.uk/