Provision of services by language

Powys County Council did not have the information requested.

Dear Sir or Madam,
1. How many people in Powys have requested, since May 1st
2005, to receive all council communications in Welsh.

2. How much the council spends per annum providing services in
British Sign Language.

Yours faithfully,

gareth davies

Powys County Council

Mr. G Davies

March 10, 2009

Person Dealing: Gwen Middleton
Direct Dial: 01597 829457

Dear Mr. Davies,

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000
Reference No: F-2009-00101

Thank you for your request for information, received at this office on March 9, 2009, in which you requested details of the following:

1) Requests to receive Council communication in Welsh
2) Expenditure per annum on providing services in British Sign Language

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third party. In some circumstances Powys County Council may be unable to achieve this deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised time-scale at the earliest opportunity.

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment from you. If you choose not to make a payment then your request will remain unanswered.

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

The due date for responding to this request for information is April 7, 2009.

Should you need to discuss this further please contact the officer dealing with your request as identified at the beginning of this letter or Information Management on 01597 825013.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in Powys County Council.

Yours sincerely,

Gwen Middleton
Senior Records Assistant

Andrea Hughson
Rheolwr Cofnodion a Chydymffurfiaeth
Records & Compliance Manager
__________________________________________

Powys County Council
Information Management
Unit 29,
Ddole Road Enterprise Park
Llandrindod Wells
Powys
LD1 6DF
01597 825013

http://www.powys.gov.uk/index.php?id=46&...

show quoted sections

Powys County Council

April 7, 2009

Person Dealing: Gwen Middleton
Direct Dial: 01597 829457

Dear Mr. Davies,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Reference No: F-2009-00101

Thank you for your request for information dated March 8, 2009 concerning 1) Council communication in Welsh 2) Expenditure on sign language.

This is to inform you that the information relating to your request has been collated and is as follows:

1) How many people in Powys have requested since May 2005 to receive all Council communications in Welsh?

Response: Powys County Council has a Welsh Language Scheme which is in accordance with the Welsh Language Act 1993. All correspondence which goes out to residents is bi-lingual viz: Electoral information, council tax information, newsletters etc.
If correspondence is received by any Council department in Welsh then it is responded to in Welsh; anyone requesting to be responded to in Welsh, whether it be by mail or by telephone, would be.
It is not possible to give actual figures for the number of people requesting to receive all communicatons in Welsh.

2) How much does the Council spend per annum providing services in British Sign Language?

Response: The amount the Authority spends on providing services in British Sign Language, (BSL) is not recorded within a central location. Each service area within the People and Wellbeing Directorate providing or purchasing services in BSL would record such purchases within differing budgets, and without actually specifically coding for BSL. To gather such precise information would require a physical examination of each invoice.

Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit.

For information purposes, the fee limit set down by the Lord Chancellor is £450, which in our case equates to a maximum of 18½ hours of time spent in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information.

On this occasion we estimate that the time it would take to retrieve and extract the required information would exceed the fee limit as set out in the Appropriate Limit and Fees Regulations.

Powys County Council is therefore not obliged to comply with this aspect of your request.

However please be advised that within the People and Wellbeing Directorate there are a number of staff who can communicate with their clients and customers in BSL, and a further number of staff who are receiving further basic training in BSL.

The authority is also providing staff with a number of opportunities to undertake sensory awareness training, at this time.

We believe that this request is now complete and shall be closed immediately. Should any further information be requested regarding this topic, a separate request will need to be submitted.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in Powys County Council.

Yours sincerely,

Gwen Middleton
Senior Records Assistant

The supply of documents under Freedom of Information does not give the person or organisation who receives them an automatic right to re-use the documents in a way that would infringe copyright.

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including for noncommercial research purposes. The information may also be used for the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for example, by publishing the information or issuing copies to the public will require the permission of the copyright owner.

The copyright of most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of Information Act requests will be owned by Powys County Council. The copyright in other information may be owned by another person or organisation, as indicated in the information itself.

For HMSO Guidance Notes on a range of copyright issues, see the Office of Public Sector Information(OPSI) website. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copy...

If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint, please contact Information Management. Our complaints procedure is available on request or on our website.

If you are still not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to the Information Commissioner, who is the statutory regulator. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

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

Andrea Hughson
Rheolwr Cofnodion a Chydymffurfiaeth
Records & Compliance Manager
__________________________________________

Powys County Council
Information Management
Unit 29,
Ddole Road Enterprise Park
Llandrindod Wells
Powys
LD1 6DF
01597 825013

http://www.powys.gov.uk/index.php?id=46&...

show quoted sections

Powys County Council

April 7, 2009

Person Dealing: Gwen Middleton
Direct Dial: 01597 829457

Dear Mr. Davies,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Reference No: F-2009-00101

Thank you for your request for information dated March 8, 2009 concerning 1) Council communication in Welsh 2) Expenditure on sign language.

This is to inform you that the information relating to your request has been collated and is as follows:

1) How many people in Powys have requested since May 2005 to receive all Council communications in Welsh?

Response: Powys County Council has a Welsh Language Scheme which is in accordance with the Welsh Language Act 1993. All correspondence which goes out to residents is bi-lingual viz: Electoral information, council tax information, newsletters etc.

If correspondence is received by any Council department in Welsh then it is responded to in Welsh; anyone requesting to be responded to in Welsh, whether it be by mail or by telephone, would be.
It is not possible to give actual figures for the number of people requesting to receive all communicatons in Welsh.

2) How much does the Council spend per annum providing services in British Sign Language?

Response:The amount the Authority spends on providing services in British Sign Language, (BSL) is not recorded within a central location. Each service area within the People and Wellbeing Directorate providing or purchasing services in BSL would record such purchases within differing budgets, and without actually specifically coding for BSL. To gather such precise information would require a physical examination of each invoice.

Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit.

For information purposes, the fee limit set down by the Lord Chancellor is £450, which in our case equates to a maximum of 18½ hours of time spent in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information.

On this occasion we estimate that the time it would take to retrieve and extract the required information would exceed the fee limit as set out in the Appropriate Limit and Fees Regulations.

Powys County Council is therefore not obliged to comply with this aspect of your request.

However please be advised that within the People and Wellbeing Directorate there are a number of staff who can communicate with their clients and customers in BSL, and a further number of staff who are receiving further basic training in BSL.

The authority is also providing staff with a number of opportunities to undertake sensory awareness training, at this time.

We believe that this request is now complete and shall be closed immediately. Should any further information be requested regarding this topic, a separate request will need to be submitted.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in Powys County Council.

Yours sincerely,

Gwen Middleton
Senior Records Assistant

The supply of documents under Freedom of Information does not give the person or organisation who receives them an automatic right to re-use the documents in a way that would infringe copyright.

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including for noncommercial research purposes. The information may also be used for the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for example, by publishing the information or issuing copies to the public will require the permission of the copyright owner.

The copyright of most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of Information Act requests will be owned by Powys County Council. The copyright in other information may be owned by another person or organisation, as indicated in the information itself.

For HMSO Guidance Notes on a range of copyright issues, see the Office of Public Sector Information(OPSI) website. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copy...

If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint, please contact Information Management. Our complaints procedure is available on request or on our website.

If you are still not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to the Information Commissioner, who is the statutory regulator. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

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

Andrea Hughson
Rheolwr Cofnodion a Chydymffurfiaeth
Records & Compliance Manager
__________________________________________

Powys County Council
Information Management
Unit 29,
Ddole Road Enterprise Park
Llandrindod Wells
Powys
LD1 6DF
01597 825013

http://www.powys.gov.uk/index.php?id=46&...

show quoted sections