Copy of response to R596

I acknowledge receipt of your request on 27 November 2009 relating to Financial Remuneration and Expenses and confirm that it has been handled appropriately under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act.

To make our responses clearer, I will first address part (a) of questions 2 & 4 relating to ‘all staff’.

The amount of work which would be involved in calculating the costs of travel and other expenses would be excessive because, for accuracy, it would involve a manual trawl of paper based claims. We estimate that the cost of this work for a workforce of 1400, in combination with similar work required to answer part of question 2 – see below – would be likely to exceed the guidelines for non-governmental public bodies. This information is therefore withheld on the basis of cost exception.

We are able to supply the following information.

1.How much was paid inbonuses/non-consolidated performance pay awards in each of the last three financial years for which figures are available

(a) in total to all staff

Staff in our Trust receive no bonuses or non-consolidated performance pay awards.

(b) to the chairman, (c) to non-executive directors, (d) to the chief executive and (e) to executive directors

Directors’ remuneration has been published in our Annual Report and Accounts for the last three years – where any additional payments have been made these will be included. These reports are available on our website at

2.How much was re-claimed for personal travel expenses for (i) mileage, (ii) parking, (iii) taxis, (iv) car allowances, (v) trains, and (vi) flights in each of the last three financial years for which figures are available

(a) in total for all staff

This information is withheld on the basis of cost exception for the reasons stated above.

(b) by the chairman, (c) by non-executive directors, (d) by the chief executive and (e) by executive directors

Please find attached a summary of the Non Executives’ and Directors’ personal travel expenses and other expenses – this level of detail is all that we hold in readily accessible format. To ascertain the forms of travel would involve manually accessing and reviewing each individual claim which, combined with the work involved in answering your questions relating to all staff, would exceed the cost guidelines as explained above.

3.How many official vehicles are currently allocated to staff; what vehicles are they, are any of the vehicles chauffeur-driven; which staff have access to these vehicles; and at what cost have these vehicles been provided at in each of the last three financial year for which figures are available.

We currently have eleven lease cars which are used by the community midwives. Those members of staff who wish to can opt into the lease car scheme and do so usually because of the number of business miles they have to do. They are thus not ‘allocated’ in the true sense. Vehicle makes are basic Ford Focus or Renault Clio. None are chauffeur driven. The costs for the last three years have been:

200708 - £36,170

200809 - £30,782

200910 - £23,288 (to the end of November)

4.How much was re-claimed

(a) in total for all staff

This information is withheld on the basis of cost exception for the reasons stated above.

(b) by the chairman, (c) by non-executive directors, (d) by the chief executive and (e) by executive directors for (i) over-night accommodation (ii) hospitality (iii) business phone calls (iv) meals (v) any other personal expenses in each of the last three financial year for which figures are available

The figures shown on the attached summary are all the expenses we can readily supply without a manual trawl of individual claims, as previously explained.

I hope this information is helpful. If however, for any reason you require clarification on any of the above or wish to complain about the handling of your request or the content of our reply, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will try to assist further. Should local resolution fail, you may request an independent internal review and ultimately you have recourse to the Information Commissioner's Office at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Information relating to question 2b – see next page

Expenses Entries via Payroll and Financial Ledger April - August 2009
Month / Accommodation / subsistence / Course / Conference Fees** / Travel Expenses / Credit Card (Trust) / Total
April / £212.00 / £1,702.10 / £1,914.10
Chairman / May / £203.25 / £203.25
(incl Acting Chair) / June / £0.00
July / £0.00
August / £0.00
September / £0.00
October / £0.00
Total / £212.00 / £1,702.10 / £203.25 / £0.00 / £2,117.35
April / £84.80 / £286.15 / £370.95
Chief Executive* / May / £41.30 / £41.30
June / £544.55 / £544.55
July / £156.00 / £156.00
August / £8.75 / £8.75
September / £0.00
October / £42.38 / £400.00 / £442.38
Total / £0.00 / £0.00 / £283.18 / £880.75 / £1,121.55
April / £4.95 / £6,483.00 / £160.90 / £6,648.85
Executive Directors / May / £0.00
June / £0.00
(excl Chief Execs) / July / £48.60 / £48.60
August / £0.00
September / £0.00
October / £37.45 / £37.45
Total / £4.95 / £6,483.00 / £246.95 / £0.00 / £6,697.45
April / £0.00
Non-Exec Directors / May / £202.90 / £202.90
June / £382.45 / £382.45
(excl Chair/Acting Chair) / July / £373.10 / £19.10 / £392.20
August / £108.60 / £108.60
September / £278.25 / £278.25
October / £0.00
Total / £0.00 / £373.10 / £991.30 / £0.00 / £1,086.15
£433.90 / £16,370.20 / £2,071.21 / £2,161.50 / £11,022.50
* Change of CEO in July
** Does not include annual membership fees