Total Annual Figures for Compromise Agreements, etc.

The request was successful.

Dear Cheshire East Council,

Please supply totals for the following:

Since the inception of Cheshire East Council, or as far as records go back, the annual figures for the total number of current employees / ex-employees of Cheshire East Council who have signed compromise agreements directly related to the resolving of dispute(s) / grievance(s) / internal and external investigation(s) / whistleblowing incident(s).

In addition to this, annual figures for the number of current employees / ex-employees who have agreed, following the matter being raised and made conditional as part of a compromise agreement drawn up by the body acting as Cheshire East Council's legal team, to forgo their right to approach the council in the future with Freedom of Information and/or DPA Subject Access requests under the relevant Acts.

Please note that I do not seek or require any personal information such as names and addresses – only the total figures for each subject area.

Yours faithfully,

Paul Cardin

FOI East, Cheshire East Council

Dear Mr Cardin

Thank you for your email.

It will be treated as a request within the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act: this means that we will send you a full response within 20 working days, either supplying you with the information which you want, or explaining to you why we cannot supply it. If we need any further clarification or there is any problem we will be in touch.

In the meantime if you wish to discuss this further please contact me. It would be helpful if you could quote the log number 801964.

Yours sincerely

Rose Raine
Compliance Officer
Cheshire East Council
Tel 01270 686605
www.cheshireeast.gov.uk

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Raine, Rose, Cheshire East Council

Dear Mr Cardin

Thank you for your request for information. The council's response is as follows:-

Department People Places Performance & Capacity Schools
Number of Compromise
agreements signed as
a result of disputes etc 2 0 0 9

Number of Compromise
Agreements signed
forgoing the right to
FOI of DPA requests 0 0 0 0

Should you have any queries on the content of this message please contact me.

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, under the Freedom of Information Act you should write to the Compliance Unit, Cheshire East Council, Westfields. Sandbach, Cheshire, CW11 1HZ

If you are not content with the 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 complaints procedure provided by the Council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Rose Raine
Compliance Officer
Cheshire East Council
Tel 01270 686605

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Dear Rose,

Many thanks for your response. However, it is not clear.

Please could you reply with the total Annual figures set out in calendar years e.g. 2005 - 1; 2006 - 0; 2007 - 3, etc?

many thanks in advance,

Yours sincerely,

Paul Cardin

Raine, Rose, Cheshire East Council

Dear Mr Cardin

Cheshire East Council did not exist prior to April 2009 as the council was created as a result of local government re-organisation; the figures I have provided are the only figures we have available. As your original request did not specify the earlier dates I did not explain this reorganization in my response to you.

I hope this makes the situation clear.

Yours sincerely

Rose Raine
Compliance Officer
Cheshire East Council
Tel 01270 686605

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Dear Rose,

Thanks but I'm afraid your response doesn't make it any clearer. Please tell me how many compromise agreements you had in 2009 and in 2010.

Many thanks in advance,

Yours sincerely,

Paul Cardin

FOI East, Cheshire East Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Cardin

Thank you for your email of 21 January 2011. Please find attached a table providing figures for 2009/10 and 2010/11 which I hope makes our response clearer. As previously explained, Cheshire East Council did not exist prior to April 2009.

I trust this satisfies your request but if you have any queries please contact me.

Yours sincerely

Julie Gibbs
Compliance Officer
Internal Audit & Compliance
Cheshire East Council
Tel: 01270 686606

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Paul Cardin left an annotation ()

Cheshire East Council were one of the quicker respondents of the 345 councils asked, taking 20 working days (the statutory period) to respond positively and in full.

Please link here to read about the further aspects of this request:

www.easyvirtualassistance.co.uk/page4.html

...including councils who have attempted to prevent individuals from exercising their statutory FOI / DP querying rights.

There is a growing trend for the use of compromise agreements, not just in the area of disputes or whistleblowing, but also in general redundancy or equal pay claims. Some councils have yet to answer this query - and to date, 65 working days have elapsed