Freedom of information act

[Sheilaoliver]

Regarding the FOI requests,  the bypass  the Council claimed would cost £179 million then it went up to £425 million and then it went up to £675 million and then to a billion - under PFI - we couldn't afford it.  So, all those requests were worth the money.

Regarding the school - no-one was in favour - two 500 name petitions and 500 letters of objection - all ignored. Concerns of local MP and Friends of the Earth expert re contamination - all ignored. The council made the developers liable for the contamination costs - law suits pending there then, I suspect, as the  Council knew back in 1974 the land was unsafe to build on (evidence submitted to the webmaster). Did they tell the developers that? Did they Buxton.

I will post up all my school requests giving a reason for the postings - all very serious issues.  If anyone challenges the veracity of what I am saying, I shall submit documentary evidence in each case to the webmaster or anyone can email me and get the details.  Children's lives - how much are they worth?  If the Council doesn't want the questions then don't carry on with scandalous projects like this one. 

[Sheilaoliver]

"Have you any opinion on Dustys post under the topic alternative use for the Hibbert Lane campus?A councillors partner thanking her partner via chair of the MAC for doing the job they are paid to do.She could of thanked him over breakfast.You couldn't make it up.I find it incredible that she actually wanted it to be made public.She must think we are stupid and don't know that they are connected and run a hotel together! They are not camera shy. I am talking about councillor K Dowling.How can we have any respect for him when something like this is made public?You Go Girl! "

I think now I know the supermarket who can act towards the upper limit of naughty (you have to be careful of their lawyers) regarding planning aren't involved, I will stay out of the Hibbert Lane Campus fight.  I don't know enough about it really.

However, that thanking thing drives me mad.  At the Executive meetings it is all - aren't we all wonderful, yes, we are and thank you for saying it and haven't we done well and isn't it wonderful that other councils marvel at all we achieve and thank you  council officer paid £100,000 pa for the wonderful report you have produced ....it goes on ad nauseum and they should stop it.
 
 
 

[Lisa Oldham]

freedom of information requests tend to follow several letter of requests for information and the subsequent refusals/fobbing off. so I'd suggest that if the councils, and government and agencies,  were more forthcoming with facts and figures and information that we ask for then they wouldn't have to be FORCED to tell the truth therefore they could easily save money

More requests in stockport?  hmmm.. maybe they refuse/lie more often?  

[Duke Fame]

The conclusion is that councils are not good at achieving economy, efficiency & effectiveness and let's get as much of the council privatised and minimised.

This is the route that some councils are taking. Selby district council now only employs 14 people. All the service delivery functions have been transferred to a separate organisation, called Access Selby. Presumably this will allow the council to accept bids for services in the future and therefore make considerable cost savings. Of course it also frees Access Selby to sub contract as it sees fit.

Full story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16037553

I believe they are doing the same in Norfolk. It's a great idea, the council can avoid staff disputes, unaffordable pensions etc and get on with managing what services are needed. As long as it saves the taxpayer money and keeps / improves the standard of service, who can complain. I'd put the out of office assistant on those FOI requests.

[Harry]

The conclusion is that councils are not good at achieving economy, efficiency & effectiveness and let's get as much of the council privatised and minimised.

This is the route that some councils are taking. Selby district council now only employs 14 people. All the service delivery functions have been transferred to a separate organisation, called Access Selby. Presumably this will allow the council to accept bids for services in the future and therefore make considerable cost savings. Of course it also frees Access Selby to sub contract as it sees fit.

Full story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16037553

[Duke Fame]

NPS Stockport charged circa half a million pounds in property fees for the toxic waste dump school.  When I read the Council's accounts I was astonished to find another circa £165,000 for architect's fees for the school on top of that.  I am not terribly good with money, so I passed these figures past a chartered accountant, who was horrified. 

Shiela, your FOI request have cost £98k, what does your accountant think of that? I'm a chartered accountant but if someone told me that an architect charged £165k for a school, I'd not know if that was horrific or not.

The 1/2 m for converting a brown field site may or may not be good value. How much does it cost to clear woodland to make way for development.

That said, I'm with you in getting rid of council waste but didn't you used to work for Richard Leese? I'm sure that's how you became expert at spotting waste and cor (cough) rupt  practice. Did someone say £3.5m for a brochure on buses and trams (TIF).

The conclusion is that councils are not good at achieving economy, efficiency & effectiveness and let's get as much of the council privatised and minimised.

Small state please, we're British

[alan@marple]

Gentlemen-the pair of you- just who is winding you both up and getting you to fire the bullets! I suspect and elected representative!

[Harry]

It's also thought-provoking to discover that Stockport gets 66% more FOI requests than the average (560).  Why?

I think you know the answer to that one Dave.

[Dave]

Thanks tricky - your research technique is obviously a lot better than mine!

"During 2010, the Council received 930 FOI requests.

So at £159.80 a go, that means they cost us council taxpayers £148,614 in 2010.   

It's also thought-provoking to discover that Stockport gets 66% more FOI requests than the average (560).  Why?

[Tricky]

"During 2010, the Council received 930 FOI requests. Already during 2011

(Jan – Aug) we have received 827 requests, 611 of which were received

during the first six months of the year."


Taken from..
 http://democracy.stockport.gov.uk/documents/s5564/CRMG%20FOI%20update%20report.pdf


(apologies for poor formatting.. done via my phone)

[Dave]

I don't know how many FOI requests SMBC received last year (and I'm certainly not going to submit a FOI request in order to find out  ), but this report....http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/research/foi/foi-and-local-government/2010-foi-officers-survey.pdf

...indicates that in 2010 there was an average of 560 FOIs per local authority in England.  Now this report (page 43) puts the cost per FOI at a mere £159.80.   So if Stockport is 'average' (and we don't know that, of course, so this figure is hypothetical), then we Stockport council taxpayers will have forked out £89,488 (560 x £159.80) last year in order to deal with enquiries from Ms Oliver and others.  You could fix a few holes in the road for that, or even give the councillors oysters and champagne for tea........   

[Dave]

Also, they spend £23,000 per annum of our money on committee teas

What a disgrace - they could answer 78 FOI requests for that - much more tasty   

[Sheilaoliver]

NPS Stockport charged circa half a million pounds in property fees for the toxic waste dump school.  When I read the Council's accounts I was astonished to find another circa £165,000 for architect's fees for the school on top of that.  I am not terribly good with money, so I passed these figures past a chartered accountant, who was horrified.  Why the large sums paid to NPS Stockport for this school?   I have not figured that out yet but I am working on it.  There are also several issues which were raised by a civil engineer about the safety of the school, even before the collapse of the ceiling last week.  Did you and I get good value for this huge sum of money paid to NPS?  Who was responsible for checking the work was done correctly?  It has appeared at one stage that it was the headmistress' responsibility. If that is true, then the situation is ludicrous.  How could she be expected to possess the required knowlege?  I am still working on that one but will keep you posted.

Again, the councillors should be asking these questions and I should be reading Dostoyevsky.

[Tricky]

Interesting reading here...
http://lawrenceserewicz.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/if-a-foia-request-costs-293-how-much-does-it-cost-to-answer-a-letter/
£293 to answer each FOI request!

[Sheilaoliver]

Harry
The top of the range BMWs were quoted in the Stockport Express article on the subject and they are keen fact checkers. This was not my FOI request but someone else did that great job.  I had previously asked why the former Monitoring Officer had a luxury car when she did no business mileage, but that was also held against me as being vexatious.

My point is that all this information on current developments should be at their fingertips anyway. They should know the state of the contamination and the reason for the cost of projects spiralling out of control. The councillors should be asking these questions and I should go back to reading Dostoyevsky. When they do, I will.
More to follow

Sheila