Projected costs and savings from Northants Future proposals
Dear South Northamptonshire Council,
In the consultation document for the Future Northants proposals (http://www.ors.org.uk/_docs/Future_North..., linked from https://www.futurenorthants.co.uk/), it is stated that "compared with the current position, it has been estimated that re-organisation into two new unitary councils would achieve annual savings of £12million per year through rationalisation, economies of scale and greater efficiency." It is also stated that "there will be a one-off cost
of approximately £22million to make the transition."
I'd be grateful if you could provide all the information you have about how these two figures were arrived at, including, but not limited to:
* breakdowns of costs/savings in as much detail as you have
* instructions provided to those that performed the estimates
* information about the uncertainties in each figure
* which organisation(s) were involved in arriving at each figure
* correspondence involving officers, members, consultants and other councils about the two figures
As this request relates to an ongoing consultation which closes on the 22nd of July, I'd be grateful if in line with the Freedom of Information Act you could reply promptly, and substantially sooner than the 20 days maximum limit, so that your reply can help inform consultees. If some parts of this request can be fulfilled sooner than others, I request that you provide partial answers as they become available.
Yours faithfully,
Alexander Dutton
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Freedom of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations 2004
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FOI Admin
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Dear Mr Dutton.
I’m writing to update you on the progress we’re making in answering your
FOI.
I’m afraid that it is likely to take us a further few days to gather the
information. This will take us past the 20 day upper limit, and I do
apologise for the delay. We try hard to answer the enquiries fully and
promptly, and to treat the 20 working days very much as an upper limit not
to be breached, rather than as a basic working deadline, so it is very
unfortunate indeed that we look unlikely to meet even that timeframe.
I am personally pursuing the matter myself to see that it is not delayed
any longer than it absolutely needs to be. I’d anticipate you having a
suitable response by the end of next week, Fri 10^th August, though if I
can possibly get you that response sooner, I certainly shall.
Kind regards,
Peter Holt
Interim Assistant Director, Communications
Cherwell District and South Northants Councils
Direct dial: 01295 753775
[1][email address]
[2]www.cherwell.gov.uk
[3]www.southnorthants.gov.uk
Find us on Facebook [4]www.facebook.com/cherwelldistrictcouncil or
[5]www.facebook.com/southnorthantscouncil
Follow us on Twitter @Cherwellcouncil or @SNorthantsCouncil
This e-mail (including any attachments) may be confidential and may
contain legally privileged information. You should not disclose its
contents to any other person. If you are not the intended recipient,
please notify the sender immediately.
Whilst the Council has taken every reasonable precaution to minimise the
risk of computer software viruses, it cannot accept liability for any
damage which you may sustain as a result of such viruses. You should carry
out your own virus checks before opening the e-mail(and/or any
attachments).
Unless expressly stated otherwise, the contents of this e-mail represent
only the views of the sender and does not impose any legal obligation upon
the Council or commit the Council to any course of action.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.cherwell.gov.uk/
3. http://www.southnorthants.gov.uk/
4. http://www.facebook.com/cherwelldistrict...
5. http://www.facebook.com/southnorthantsco...
Dear Mr Dutton
I attach a wide range of emails and documents in your FOI request. I have
not applied any exemptions, and have therefore made no redactions nor
withheld any data. Much of the data supplied is duplicated – e.g. in
email trails – but I have sent you the whole bundle of relevant exchanges,
for sake of completeness (and just to avoid me accidentally holding
anything back out of an effort to de-duplicate, and in so doing actually
miss out anything fresh, and/or incur further delay).
Finally, let me offer a genuine and fulsome apology for the length of time
taken to comply with your request, which has been due to a combination of
the volume of data to source and consider, holidays of key people, and a
small amount of human error. This has therefore taken two weeks longer
than the 20 day deadline. This is pretty exceptional for us, and not
something we do either lightly or casually, so I am very sorry.
In addition to replying in a fulsome fashion, let me also volunteer some
context related to your request, which I hope may be helpful. The £12m
annual estimated savings figure and also the £22m estimated one-off costs
were best professional estimates on the information then available. As
the weeks and indeed months have gone by since those estimates were
compiled in May, more intensive work on those future costs and savings has
continued. The conclusions of that further work (ie with fresh and more
detailed estimates) will be published today on our website (likely shortly
after 3pm). Although those initial estimated numbers will have moved on
as a result of the extra analysis since undertaken, the numbers have not
changed out of all recognition, and we stand by the original estimates.
The Council endeavours to answer requests for information as fully and
accurately as possible. If you are not satisfied with this response, you
may request an internal review by contacting the Information Governance
Manager at South Northamptonshire Council, The Forum, Moat Lane, Towcester
NN12 6AD or by email at [1][email address] If
following the review you are still not satisfied with the Council’s
response, you are advised to contact the Information Commissioner directly
at the Information Commissioners Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or on [2][email address].
Yours sincerely,
Peter Holt
Interim Assistant Director, Communications
Cherwell District and South Northants Councils
Direct dial: 01295 753775
[3][email address]
[4]www.cherwell.gov.uk
[5]www.southnorthants.gov.uk
Find us on Facebook [6]www.facebook.com/cherwelldistrictcouncil or
[7]www.facebook.com/southnorthantscouncil
Follow us on Twitter @Cherwellcouncil or @SNorthantsCouncil
This e-mail (including any attachments) may be confidential and may
contain legally privileged information. You should not disclose its
contents to any other person. If you are not the intended recipient,
please notify the sender immediately.
Whilst the Council has taken every reasonable precaution to minimise the
risk of computer software viruses, it cannot accept liability for any
damage which you may sustain as a result of such viruses. You should carry
out your own virus checks before opening the e-mail(and/or any
attachments).
Unless expressly stated otherwise, the contents of this e-mail represent
only the views of the sender and does not impose any legal obligation upon
the Council or commit the Council to any course of action.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.cherwell.gov.uk/
5. http://www.southnorthants.gov.uk/
6. http://www.facebook.com/cherwelldistrict...
7. http://www.facebook.com/southnorthantsco...
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