Bore da/Good morning,

Thank you for your request for information. Your request was received on 24/05/2017 and the relevant department is dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

You should receive a reply to your request within the statutory time limit of 20 working days.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact us.

For future reference, all Freedom of Information requests can now be submitted via the link below.

www.newport.gov.uk/foi

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on the Telephone number below. Our hours of opening are Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm.

Kind regards,

Andrew
Newport City Council Contact Centre
Tel: 01633 656 656
Minicom: 01633 656 657

Visit www.newport.gov.uk
Did you know we offer a range of council services online, easy to use and available 24/7.

Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg. Byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn eich dewis iaith, boed yn Saesneg, yn Gymraeg neu’n ddwyieithog, cyhyd â’n bod yn ymwybodol o’ch dewis. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.

The Council welcomes correspondence in English or Welsh. We will communicate with you in the language of your choice, whether that’s English, Welsh or in Bilingual format as long as we know which you prefer. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to delay.

show quoted sections

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your request for information about :

School Building Safety Audit

Received on 24/05/2017

This request has been formally logged in our FOI management system and has been assigned the reference REQ04621.
You should receive a reply to your request within the statutory time limit of 20 working days.

Please remember to quote the reference number REQ04621 in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,
Information Management

Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu yn y ddwy iaith. Byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn ôl eich dewis. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.

The Council welcomes correspondence in English or Welsh or both, and will respond to you according to your preference. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to delay.

Disclaimer/Ymwadiad

This email contains information intended for the addressee only and may be confidential, the subject of legal or professional privilege, or be otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose, distribute or copy the email to any other party. This email and any attached file are the property of Newport City Council.

When you email Newport City Council, you consent to the Council monitoring and reading any such emails for the purposes of security and legislative compliance. For the full disclaimer please access http://www.newport.gov.uk/disclaimer.

Mae'r e-bost hwn yn cynnwys gwybodaeth y bwriedir ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn unig a gall fod yn gyfrinachol, yn destun ragorfraint gyfreithiol neu broffesiynol, neu fel arall wedi’i diogelu rhag cael ei rhyddhau. Os nad chi yw derbynnydd bwriadedig y neges hon, a fyddech cystal â rhoi gwybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a pheidio â datgelu, dosbarthu neu gopïo’r e-bost i unrhyw barti arall. Mae’r e-bost hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn eiddo i Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd.

Pan fyddwch yn anfon e-bost at Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd, rydych yn cydsynio i’r Cyngor fonitro a darllen unrhyw e-byst o’r fath at ddibenion cydymffurfio â diogelwch ac â deddfwriaeth. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch i http://www.newport.gov.uk/ymwadiad

Dear Megan Ingles,

Thank you for your recent request for information which we are dealing
with under the Freedom of Information Act.

We do hold some of the information falling within the terms of your
request, however we need more time to consider and collate the information
relating to your request

I hope to let you have a response by July 5th.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review.  Internal review requests should be
submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your
original request and should be addressed to  : 

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

For future reference, all Freedom of Information requests can now be
submitted via the link below.

[1]www.newport.gov.uk/foi

If you are not content with the outcome of the request, you have the right
to apply 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

Cofion gorau / Kind regards

Jodi Pontin

Rheolwr Busnes Addysg / Education Business Manager 

Addysg / Education

Cyngor Dinas Casnewydd / Newport City Council

Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu yn y ddwy
iaith. Byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn ôl eich dewis. Ni fydd gohebu yn
Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.

The Council welcomes correspondence in English or Welsh or both, and will
respond to you according to your preference. Corresponding in Welsh will
not lead to delay.

Disclaimer/Ymwadiad

This email contains information intended for the addressee only and may be
confidential, the subject of legal or professional privilege, or be
otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient
of this message, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose,
distribute or copy the email to any other party. This email and any
attached file are the property of Newport City Council.

When you email Newport City Council, you consent to the Council monitoring
and reading any such emails for the purposes of security and legislative
compliance. For the full disclaimer please access
http://www.newport.gov.uk/disclaimer.

Mae'r e-bost hwn yn cynnwys gwybodaeth y bwriedir ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn
unig a gall fod yn gyfrinachol, yn destun ragorfraint gyfreithiol neu
broffesiynol, neu fel arall wedi’i diogelu rhag cael ei rhyddhau. Os nad
chi yw derbynnydd bwriadedig y neges hon, a fyddech cystal â rhoi gwybod
i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a pheidio â datgelu, dosbarthu neu gopïo’r e-bost i
unrhyw barti arall. Mae’r e-bost hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn eiddo
i Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd.

Pan fyddwch yn anfon e-bost at Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd, rydych yn cydsynio
i’r Cyngor fonitro a darllen unrhyw e-byst o’r fath at ddibenion
cydymffurfio â diogelwch ac â deddfwriaeth. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch
i http://www.newport.gov.uk/ymwadiad

References

Visible links
1. http://www.newport.gov.uk/foi

Dear Megan Ingles,

Thank you for your recent request for information which I have enclosed
below for ease of reference. Your request has been treated in accordance
with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and/or the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.

I can confirm that we hold information that falls within the scope of your
request. The answers to your questions have been provided in Green Text
below.

Your Request :  FOI REQ04621

Under the freedom of information act 2000 I kindly request that you please
provide me with the following information:

This request for information is an attempt to seek reassurance about the
safety of public buildings in the light of the findings revealed in the
Inquiry commissioned following the collapse of a school building wall in
Edinburgh and subsequent closure of 17 schools.

Please answer the following for each PFI/PPP schemes in the local
authority area treating each scheme as a separate request.

The only schools PFI is Glan Usk and the project was managed entirely by
external advisers – Alf Ropke was the Project Manager for the Council
(engaged as a self-employed consultant) North Consulting were the main
consultants (operationally and financially) and Devonshires were the
external lawyers. So, they dealt with the management and oversight of the
scheme from procurement through to the construction and operation of the
school.  Only they would have a full set of project minutes and documents
etc.

Please provide all documents showing how your organisation has responded
to the findings contained in the report on Edinburgh Schools Construction
by John Cole: including, but not limited to memos, emails, minutes,
reports.

Newport Council  would not have done anything in response to the Edinburgh
schools report – because the PFI scheme would have been completed by then,
so Newport Schools Solutions (the DBFO Company) would have been
responsible for any structural defects and maintenance/repairs of the
building.  Under the PFI Agreement, they are responsible for the design,
construction, financing and operation of the school.  Therefore, we
wouldn’t have any information about this and this enquiry need to be
directed to the PFI Contractors, as they are responsible for building
safety and construction standards.

I would like to understand the expertise and resource committed by your
organisation to the management and oversight of PFI schemes from
procurement through to ongoing contract operation. Please provide
documents relating to the PFI Team(s)allocated to each project its makeup
and structure of the team during each project phase. This may comprise
terms of reference, organisation chart, post titles and role profiles.

Details of the PFI project team, and their roles and responsibilities are
set out above

Provide the deed of appointment for the Independent Certifier and any
other documents setting out the scope of that role. Please confirm the
level of indemnity insurance and liability period.

The Independent Certifier was Currie and Brown UK Ltd. We don’t have a
copy of their appointment, as they were jointly appointed under the PFI
Contract by the Council, the PFI Contractor, their Funders and Norwest
Holst (their building contractors).  Many of the terms would remain
commercially confidential, in any event.  However, we can confirm that the
limitation period would have been 12 years and the level of indemnity
insurance required was £10 million.

Please confirm whether your organisation employed a member of the
Institute of Clerk of Works or an inspector of similar standing and
assigned them to each construction site. If someone in this role was
employed please confirm their level of qualification, the salary
associated with this role and how much time was allocated to per
project/site.

No independent Clerk of Works was engaged by the Council.  The PFI
Contractors were entirely responsible for the design and construction of
the School and they engaged the building contractors directly.  The
Independent Certifier was responsible for certifying that the work had
been completed properly, resolving any snags or defects and confirming the
“Service Availability Date” i.e. when the school was practically
completed.  The Council would have relied on the Independent Certifier.

Please provide a list of all enforcement or improvement notices served;
investigations carried out and reports commissioned into fire safety
(include dates and specify who commissioned or issued these)  Please
provide copies of all items listed.

Provide details of all attempts to make deductions relating to structural
defects for each project. Confirm the amount, what it was for, and when
the deduction was made.

No investigations would have been carried out and no deductions made, as
no structural defects were identified by the Independent Certifier prior
to completion and, afterwards, it would be the responsibility of Newport
School Solutions.

I hope this provides the information you were looking for; if there is any
further information that we can provide, please submit a further request.
If you have any queries about this email or if you are unhappy with the
service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a
complaint or request a review of our decision, please contact me.

If you are not content with the subsequent outcome of your complaint, you
may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
Councils complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner can be
contacted at: The Information Commissioners Office, Wycliffe House, Water
Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

For future reference, all Freedom of Information requests can now be
submitted via the link below.

[1]www.newport.gov.uk/foi

Cofion gorau / Kind regards

Jodi Pontin

Rheolwr Busnes Addysg / Education Business Manager 

Addysg / Education

Cyngor Dinas Casnewydd / Newport City Council

Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu yn y ddwy
iaith. Byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn ôl eich dewis. Ni fydd gohebu yn
Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.

The Council welcomes correspondence in English or Welsh or both, and will
respond to you according to your preference. Corresponding in Welsh will
not lead to delay.

Disclaimer/Ymwadiad

This email contains information intended for the addressee only and may be
confidential, the subject of legal or professional privilege, or be
otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient
of this message, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose,
distribute or copy the email to any other party. This email and any
attached file are the property of Newport City Council.

When you email Newport City Council, you consent to the Council monitoring
and reading any such emails for the purposes of security and legislative
compliance. For the full disclaimer please access
http://www.newport.gov.uk/disclaimer.

Mae'r e-bost hwn yn cynnwys gwybodaeth y bwriedir ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn
unig a gall fod yn gyfrinachol, yn destun ragorfraint gyfreithiol neu
broffesiynol, neu fel arall wedi’i diogelu rhag cael ei rhyddhau. Os nad
chi yw derbynnydd bwriadedig y neges hon, a fyddech cystal â rhoi gwybod
i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a pheidio â datgelu, dosbarthu neu gopïo’r e-bost i
unrhyw barti arall. Mae’r e-bost hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn eiddo
i Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd.

Pan fyddwch yn anfon e-bost at Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd, rydych yn cydsynio
i’r Cyngor fonitro a darllen unrhyw e-byst o’r fath at ddibenion
cydymffurfio â diogelwch ac â deddfwriaeth. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch
i http://www.newport.gov.uk/ymwadiad

References

Visible links
1. http://www.newport.gov.uk/foi