Payments to Like No Other & Stuart Goulden for Consultancy Work

The request was partially successful.

Dear City of York Council,

A recent FOI https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
Exposed a significant amount of money being awarded. To Stuart Goulden directly or through his list of CICs.

For each of the amounts mentioned in the above FOI please provide paperwork that covers the entire contract period as follows:

1. Evidence how many contracts there are.
2. Provide the terms of reference, contract and outputs for each contract.
3. For each contract indicate what procurement protocols were in place for the size of each contract.
4. Provide paperwork that confirms each contract was procured according to the regulations, and where extensions were agreed, provide authorisations.
5. Provide the name of the manager who was the contract manager for each of the contracts.
6. Provide names of all Councillors involved, if any in authorisations together with sign offs.

Yours faithfully,

Paul S Cordock

foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Thank you for your email. Please note this is an automatically generated receipt to let you know we have received your email.

For information :

* The timescale for responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests is up to 20 working days. We will contact you promptly if we need you to clarify your request or an extension to complete a public interest test.

* The timescale for responding to requests for personal information under the Data Protection Act (DPA) subject access to records is 40 calendar days. We will contact you promptly if we require further information from you.

* The timescale for responding to requests for a review is up to 15 working days. You are also able to contact the Information Commissioner, contact details below:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
Or email: [email address]<mailto:[email address]> (please include your telephone number)

Regards
Customer Feedback Team

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Help protect the environment! - please don't print this email unless you really need to.

show quoted sections

foiresponses@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Please see below the response to your enquiry under the Freedom of
Information Act received on 7^th April 2016.
 
1. Evidence how many contracts there are - No information held
2. Provide the terms of reference, contract and outputs for each contract
- No information held
3. For each contract indicate what procurement protocols were in place for
the size of each contract - No information held
4. Provide paperwork that confirms each contract was procured according to
the regulations, and where extensions were agreed, provide authorisations
- No information held
5. Provide the name of the manager who was the contract manager for each
of the contracts - Stewart Halliday
6. Provide names of all Councillors involved, if any in authorisations
together with sign offs - No Councillors were involved in any
authorisation or sign off.
 
If you are dissatisfied with our response you have the right to ask for a
review of how your enquiry was handled and responded to.   This can be
done by contacting us through [1][City of York Council request email] stating your reason(s)
why you are dissatisfied, and we will pass this to the information
governance team who deal with all reviews of how we have dealt with FOI
enquiries.  If after they complete their investigation and reply to you
with their findings, you still remain dissatisfied you can contact the
Information Commissioner, contact details below:
 
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
 
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a
national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
 
Or email: [2][email address] (please include your telephone number)
 
City of York Council  |  Complaints Team, Customer & Business Support
Services
West Offices | Station Rise | York YO1 6GA
[3]www.york.gov.uk | [4]facebook.com/cityofyork | [5]@CityofYork
 
 
 
Please do not reply to this email address as it is not monitored or
responded to.
If you do need to reply, please contact [City of York Council request email]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
Help protect the environment! - please don't print this email unless you
really need to.

show quoted sections

Dear City of York Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of City of York Council's handling of my FOI request 'Payments to Like No Other & Stuart Goulden for Consultancy Work'. because of the absence of information held on the contracts awarded to Like No Other/Stuart Goulden, one of which was £115,000.

If the answer is true, that no information is held on these contracts, then it is a disgrace, and looks as though this information has been removed because of possible wrongdoing?

I request a thorough investigation of this, and those involved.

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

Yours faithfully,

Paul S Cordock

foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Thank you for your email. Please note this is an automatically generated receipt to let you know we have received your email.

For information :

* The timescale for responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests is up to 20 working days. We will contact you promptly if we need you to clarify your request or an extension to complete a public interest test.

* The timescale for responding to requests for personal information under the Data Protection Act (DPA) subject access to records is 40 calendar days. We will contact you promptly if we require further information from you.

* The timescale for responding to requests for a review is up to 15 working days. You are also able to contact the Information Commissioner, contact details below:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
Or email: [email address]<mailto:[email address]> (please include your telephone number)

Regards
Customer Feedback Team

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Help protect the environment! - please don't print this email unless you really need to.

show quoted sections

Matthew Laverack left an annotation ()

The response from the Council is shocking and has no credibility.

It is astounding for the Council to claim no records are held for such recent contracts. The tax authorities require records to be kept for a minimum of six years.

If the Council do have these records they are guilty of breaking the Law on FOI Legislation.

If they don't have these records (as claimed) then they are guilty of gross incompetence and mismanagement.

Dear City of York Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of City of York Council's handling of my FOI request 'Payments to Like No Other & Stuart Goulden for Consultancy Work'.

I requested an Internal Review on 21st April 2016 and am still awaiting a response.

Please explain why there is a delay with this?

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

Yours faithfully,

Paul S Cordock

foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Thank you for your email. Please note this is an automatically generated receipt to let you know we have received your email.

For information :

* The timescale for responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests is up to 20 working days. We will contact you promptly if we need you to clarify your request or an extension to complete a public interest test.

* The timescale for responding to requests for personal information under the Data Protection Act (DPA) subject access to records is 40 calendar days. We will contact you promptly if we require further information from you.

* The timescale for responding to requests for a review is up to 15 working days. You are also able to contact the Information Commissioner, contact details below:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
Or email: [email address]<mailto:[email address]> (please include your telephone number)

Regards
Customer Feedback Team

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Help protect the environment! - please don't print this email unless you really need to.

show quoted sections

foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Dear Mr Cordock,

I apologise for the delay in responding to your request for a review. I can confirm that I believe I have all the information to complete the review and I aim to be able to provide you with a final response by the end of Monday the 6th June.

Yours sincerely,

Cath Murray

Cath Murray | Customer Complaints & Feedback Manager
t: 01904 554145 | e: [email address]

City of York Council | Customer Complaints & Feedback Team, Customer & Business Support Services
West Offices | Station Rise | York YO1 6GA
www.york.gov.uk | facebook.com/cityofyork | @CityofYork

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Help protect the environment! - please don't print this email unless you really need to.

show quoted sections

Murray, Cath, City of York Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Cordock,
 
Please find attached the response to this review request. I apologise
again for the delay in providing this response.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Cath Murray
 
 
Cath Murray | Customer Complaints & Feedback Manager  
t: 01904 554145 | e: [1][email address]
 
City of York Council  | Customer Complaints & Feedback Team, Customer &
Business Support Services
West Offices | Station Rise | York YO1 6GA
[2]www.york.gov.uk | [3]facebook.com/cityofyork | [4]@CityofYork
 
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
Help protect the environment! - please don't print this email unless you
really need to.

show quoted sections

Gwen Swinburn left an annotation ()

Dear Mr Cordock

I am sure you will have seen the multiple *issues* with this *response*. Please loop me in on next steps, ( on here or thru my email) which I hope will include ICO, Council Members, internal and external auditors as well as CIPFA and the LGO.

Gwen

Dear City of York Council,

I am unhappy with the Internal Review by Cath Murray dated 6th June 2016, and have therefore sent the following email to several councillors:

To: Cllrs Carr, Myers, Aspden, Rawlings, Warters, Ayre,
CC Cllr Steward, Steve Galloway,

Dear Councillors

Further to my earlier emails regarding the absence of adequate tender or contract documentation in respect of two substantial contracts jointly totalling £126,280 awarded to Stuart Goulden and his Like No Other consultancy, I wish to bring to your attention the response to my request for an Internal Review of the FOI.

I attach the Internal Review dated 6th June 2016, for your information, which I am not only dissatisfied with, but, am appalled at what this has revealed .

My fundamental concern had been the absence of documentation, but, as a secondary point, I had also asked if information had been removed to cover up wrongdoing. The response however misinterprets my concern as solely being whether information had been removed, which overlooks the primary concern, which has now become even greater as a result of what the Internal Review has revealed .
Cath Murray in her letter, says this,
‘A further search for information was also completed to identify whether any information held within procurement, finance and marketing had been overlooked.’
‘As a result of these conversations and the further search, I can advise that information about the tendering process and contracts in place with Like No Other, are not and have never been held within the procurement team ‘
‘On the evidence available to me I do not consider that contract or tendering information has been deleted by the procurement team and would not have been held at any time in the finance or communication team and therefore has not been deleted by anyone in these teams.’

She goes onto say that a draft contract was located, but, because this was not a final signed contract, this was not considered to provide the information I had asked for in my questions one and two. My question two was as follows:
2. Provide the terms of reference, contract and outputs for each contract - No information held

I asked for a contract, and did not specify whether this should be a final or signed contract, so I do not understand why the draft contract was withheld at the first time of asking, and instead the answer given was ‘no information held’ which was clearly a lie. The way this question was answered was uncooperative, evasive and dishonest, and I feel the staff responsible should be taken to task over it.

Extracts of the draft contract were provided, which included the scope of the services, and terms of agreement. I have to say that this contract is best described as basic, poor, and lacking in detail for both the terms and conditions and the scope of services. I cannot believe that this is all that exists for work that the council has paid almost £200,000 in total, it really is shockingly lax and unprofessional.

The scope of services is woefully inadequate, and only amounts to a brief description, which surely doesn’t quantify the extent/parameters of the work required?

Here it is:
To provide the Customer with services (the "Services") consisting of:
• Marketing and communications. These services will include the strategy and planning for the internal and external communication of the Rewiring transformation programme, overseeing its execution, and developing new platforms for future dialogue with residents, communities, businesses and staff. It will also involve assisting the Communications team with other projects, such as the UNESCO City of Media Arts application, as and when required.
2. The Services will also include any other tasks which the Parties may agree on. The Professional Service Company hereby agrees to provide such Services to the Customer.
3. The Services must be provided with all due care, skill and ability, obey all lawful directions of the Council relating to its performance of the Services and use its or his best endeavours to promote the interests of the Council.

It should be noted that this ‘draft contract’ lumps together both the transformation programme work (carried out between Aug-13 and Sept-14) and the subsequent larger contract described as assisting the communications team with ‘other projects’ such as the Unesco City of Media Arts application . The small £11,280 contract isn’t even mentioned. It should also be noted that the Unesco City of Media Aets designation was awarded in December 2014, so why did the period Mr Goulden was working on the application extend to February 2016?

The terms of agreement does not mention any timetable/programme/duration, or any fees, rates or payment terms, but the response to my initial October 2014 FOI, included this.

5. What is Stuart Goulden's rate of pay with the council?
The contracts identified above provide for payment based on outputs, not a daily rate.

Where are the ‘contracts’ (plural) that identify the outputs and the payment amounts?

In terms of procurement standards, this must surely fall way short of the most basic requirements? How on earth were the contract values and rates of pay arrived at, especially if the work was not put out to tender?

It appears to me that there has Mr Goulden has been given preferential treatment, and that the council have funded the Unesco City of Media Arts project to a far higher extent than councillors are aware, with this funding hidden under the vague description of ‘communications’. I would again request that this matter is investigated in detail.

Yours sincerely
Paul S Cordock

For information, Mr Goulden’s contracts and their periods as derived from my FOI’s, are summarised as follows:

The council has appointed Mr Goulden to work on a variety of communications projects including the Re-wiring Public Services Programme and Unesco Media Arts.
August 2013 to September 2014 : Total £67,254

Costs & expenses associated with MAB14 conference &UNESCO designation
Invoiced March /2015 : Total £1,274.96

Reimbursement of costs re UNESCO residents festival
Invoiced November 2015 : Total £156.00

Consultancy contract with Like No Other to provide support to the Council’s communication team.
Started October 2014. Completed February 2016 : Total £115,000.

10 days design resource for services to schools and support for Be Independent
Invoiced April 2016 : Total £11,280

Grand Total £194,964.96

***********************************************************************************

Yours faithfully,

Paul S Cordock

foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Thank you for your email. Please note this is an automatically generated receipt to let you know we have received your email.

For information :

* The timescale for responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests is up to 20 working days. We will contact you promptly if we need you to clarify your request or an extension to complete a public interest test.

* The timescale for responding to requests for personal information under the Data Protection Act (DPA) subject access to records is 40 calendar days. We will contact you promptly if we require further information from you.

* The timescale for responding to requests for a review is up to 15 working days. You are also able to contact the Information Commissioner, contact details below:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
Or email: [email address]<mailto:[email address]> (please include your telephone number)

Regards
Customer Feedback Team

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Help protect the environment! - please don't print this email unless you really need to.

show quoted sections

foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Dear Mr Cordock,

I understand that you remain dissatisfied with the way we have dealt with your Freedom of Information request, following the internal review of our response to you.

As our internal process has now been completed, you can now contact the Information Commissioner to raise your concerns, contact details below:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
Or email: [email address] (please include your telephone number)

Yours sincerely

Information Governance Adviser
t: 01904 554145 | e: [City of York Council request email]

City of York Council | Customer Complaints & Feedback Team, Customer & Business Support Services
West Offices | Station Rise | York YO1 6GA
www.york.gov.uk | facebook.com/cityofyork | @CityofYork

show quoted sections

foiresponses@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Cordock,
 
Please find attached a copy of our response, which was sent to your
personal email address. This response follows the outcome of an internal
review of your FOI enquiry, where we provided you with more information
and explained that we were looking at further information that may fall
under the scope of your request. We also explained that managers should
then respond to you further to confirm whether further information is held
and provide copies or issue a relevant exemption by the 4^th July 2016. 
As evidenced by the attached response, this is what they have done.
 
Can I just confirm that the purpose of an internal review process is for
the council to independently review whether a FOI enquiry has been
properly responded to or not.  This is what we have done. In this case, we
identified further information was held, which had not previously been
identified and provided to you.
 
If you remain dissatisfied with our response, you can contact the
Information Commissioner, contact details below:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a
national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
Or email: [1][email address] (please include your telephone number)
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Information Governance Adviser   
t: 01904 554145 | e: [2][City of York Council request email]
 
City of York Council  |  Customer Complaints & Feedback Team, Customer &
Business Support Services
West Offices | Station Rise | York YO1 6GA
[3]www.york.gov.uk | [4]facebook.com/cityofyork | [5]@CityofYork
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Please be aware that this email address is used for sending responses
only, but is not monitored and therefore messages sent to this address
will not be seen by council officers.
Please send your message to email address [City of York Council request email]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
Help protect the environment! - please don't print this email unless you
really need to.

show quoted sections

Michael Hammill left an annotation ()

So, Mr Cordock,
On 9th June they tell you to go take a jump, then almost 4 weeks later produce this. What has happened in the intervening weeks.......have they swallowed a transparency pill? Or is the threat of a police investigation something to do with it?
Watch this space..............

Paul S Cordock left an annotation ()

Dear Mr Hammill

Thank you for your comment.

I am also surprised to see the latest communication from City of York Council, and the information that has suddenly come to light, after they said the process was completed.

The latest information has raised more questions than it has answered, and it appears that the councils procurement rules have been broken, which surely necessitates a thorough investigation into this matter...

I have contacted councillors requesting this.

Yours
Paul S Cordock

Matthew Laverack left an annotation ()

York Council are supposed to be short of money to fulfill their statutory duties.

Yet they seem to be able to write virtual blanks cheques for non-essential services to certain favoured providers.

Nice little earner for some - or should that be big earner?

This is public money being thrown about without proper oversight or control. There needs to be a thorough INDEPENDANT inquiry into what is going on here.

Paul S Cordock left an annotation ()

To all who have taken an interest in this,

I have received this further communication by email:-

Dear Mr Cordock

Further to recent correspondence following your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act and numerous emails to various Councillors, we have considered the comments and concerns you have raised using the council’s complaints policy and procedures. This is because it can be used when “another procedure or process has not been followed appropriately”.

As outlined in our letter to you dated 4th July, the Council was aware that there was an issue with the procurement of this supplier and we acknowledged in that letter that, in this instance, the procurement of this supplier did not follow the Council’s own Contract Procedure Rules. An internal review was carried out at the time and a number of actions agreed, including:
· a review of our Contract Procedure Rules to ensure that the process that should be followed is clear and unambiguous. This review has been completed and a revised set of rules agreed by Audit & Governance Committee on 22nd June 2016.
· an article was published in the staff newsletter reminding all staff that they must follow the rules.
· a comprehensive refresher training programme is currently being developed to ensure all staff are aware of the obligations when spending public money.

All the payments made to Like No Other were approved in line with the delegated authority of the manager responsible for the service being delivered. Even though we do not hold all the information you have previously requested, our letter of the 4th July has already outlined the services provided. You have also identified what you consider to be unusual timings for the payments. These simply relate to when the invoices were submitted by the supplier and subsequently authorised for payment. For example, the payments made in November actually relate to invoices submitted for payment in August and October and were awaiting confirmation of the work being completed prior to payment being made.

We do not consider any further action is now necessary, but will continue to closely monitor procurement compliance across the organisation to ensure the Council’s procedure rules are followed, and to ensure that all our contracts are value for money, transparent and comply with both legal requirements and the council’s Constitution.

If you are dissatisfied with how we have dealt with your concerns and comments, you can contact the Local Government Ombudsman. The Ombudsman may need to satisfy himself that the council has been given every opportunity to investigate before he decides to look into the matter, as well as if it falls within their remit to investigate. If you contact the Ombudsman you may wish to enclose a copy of this email. I have put the contact details below.

Local Government Ombudsman:
Tel: 0300 061 0614
http://www.lgo.org.uk/making-a-complaint...

Yours sincerely

Ian Floyd
Director of Customer and Business Support Services

City of York Council