Information Governance Report

Responses to Requests

Period: 01/10/2012- 31/10/2012

Type / Sub Enquiry ID / Date Received / Date Responded / Service / Enquiry Details / Response Details
Organisation / 13740 / 03/09/12 / 01/10/2012 / CYPS - Schools Traded Services / Subject: Primary Schools
Please can you provide me with a list of primary schools in your borough and their FSM percentage. / Summary
Please find attached spreadsheet with regards to the information sought.
Business / 13752 / 03/09/12 / 01/10/2012 / Pensions / Subject: Pension Fund Business Plan Update
CBRE Presentation used in preparing the 'Pension Fund Business Plan Update' to the Investment and Accounts Committee on 26 June 2012. / Summary
Please find attached the following document required in support of the information sought. Global Multi Manager, London Borough of Newham – Superannuation Fund presentation dated the 26th June 2012.
Public / 13730 / 03/09/12 / 01/10/2012 / Street Scene Enforcement / Subject : Law Enforcement Officers
1. What is the current number of uniformed Newham Council Law Enforcement officers employed by the authority?
2. Of that number, how many are accredited under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (Police Reform Act 2002)?
3. What training is given to Newham Council Law Enforcement Officers? / Summary
1. The current number of uniformed Newham Council Law Enforcement officers employed by the authority is 45.
2. A total of 24 are fully accredited under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme. A further 6 officers have completed the required training and are waiting accreditation.
3. Newham Law Enforcement officers undertake a range of work related training initially during the six month probationary period including;
- A five day NCFE (National Further Education provider) Core Skills training course for front line staff working in the community.
- National Community Accreditation Scheme Training.
- Personal Safety Training
- Specific work related training on equipment use (radio and video camera)
- Driver Training
Public / 13750 / 03/09/12 / 01/10/2012 / Complaints and Member Enquiries / Subject: Data research info Royal Docks Development
We work closely with many businesses situated at the Royal Dock development. We are currently seeking some market research for data purposes and improvement of our services. Could you please kindly provide us with the following data.
1. Development future plans and growth
2. Local residents Age. Ethnicity. Annual Salary. Interest. Computer users. Profession. Transport accessibility. Market Research category. Lifestyles
3. Future business development
4. Local spending patterns
5. 5 year development plan / Summary
Under the Freedom of Information Act we have the right to refuse a request for information held if an exemption applies. We believe in this case Section 21 exemption applies and have decided to refuse your request for information.
Section 21 of the Act contains an exemption for information which is reasonably accessible by other means.
The Newham website provides extensive information in respect of the regeneration and future development plans for the Royal Docks area, together with statistical information on the borough.
Details of the future regeneration and growth plans for the Royal Docks area can be located on the website in the document titled A Vision for the Royal Docks. Please see the relevant weblink below for your reference

Additional information in respect of the Royal Docks London Enterprise Zone and the development opportunities for Royal Albert Dock and Silvertown Quays can be located on the web link below

Both of these websites include information in respect of the potential for future business development, projected spend and vision for the future progression of this area.
The Newham website provides a wealth of statistical information in respect of the demographics of the local populations.
For your ease of reference please see the web link below to the key statistics page of the Newham website.

Further information can also be sourced from the Newham Info website which provides for a number of key local indicators to be compiled according to the needs of your research, through the Data Views and Profiles options. Please see the link below

The Office for National Statistics has released the first outputs for the 2011 Census and these can also be located on the Newham Info website.

Public / 13763 / 03/09/12 / 01/10/2012 / Parking Fines / Subject : Parking Enforcement
1. How many tickets issued by this CEO ( PCN details witheld) have gone to appeal?
2. Is there a quota of how many tickets should be issued by the CEO on their daily shifts?
3. If there is no quota system, then how is the performance of a CEO monitors?
4. How many appeals do you get for all tickets issued by all CEOs in the Borough? / Summary
1. The total number is 10.
2.It is illegal to set quotas for Penalty Charge Notices (PCN’s) issuance. Please be advised that the number of PCN’s issued can vary for a number of reasons i.e.: location of the beat/patrol, the day of the week, and the time of the year.
3.Using a variety of different factors. We look at how effectively a Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) covers their beats, applying health & safety, effective monitoring of parking contraventions, which will include priority hot spots and the quality of their pocket book (e.g. supporting evidence, all abbreviations are correct, correct contravention code use and observations time etc) and their cancellation rate.
4.Please be advised that the informationyou require is available at the following website
Public / 13837 / 03/09/12 / 01/10/2012 / Business Rates / Subject: Business Rates
Required Information;- A list of all live business rates accounts with a 2010 list Rateable Value greater than or equal to £25,000.
•Property Reference Number (also known as Billing Authority Reference Number) of the property on which the charge is made. Please note that this is not the Rate Demand or Rate Account Number.
•Current Rateable Value upon which the charge is based
•The Business Name of the party liable for the charge
•The hereditament address
•The address(of the account holder) to which correspondence in respect of the property is sent including the contact telephone number and email address
•The liability start date or date of first account
•In addition to occupied business rated properties, where a property is currently subject to empty rates please provide the date it became empty
•A description of the property type (e.g. office/warehouse/retail)
•We do not require any personal information or sole traders.
Where possible, the information should be supplied in an electronic, spreadsheet format. The Act requires that a response be provided within a period of 20 working days from the date hereof. In our experience this request for information falls within the parameters of the Act. / Summary
Please find the attached spreadsheet in support of the information sought.
None of the listed properties have been the subject of empty rates.
We understand that you do not seek as part of this request personal information or sole traders and this information has been withheld in order to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. Third party personal data is exempt from disclosure under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. Disclosure of third party personal information would contravene the first data protection principle, which requires that personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully by the Council. Section 40 of the FOIA provides an absolute exemption; therefore there is no requirement to consider the public interest in disclosure.
Public / 13754 / 04/09/12 / 01/10/2012 / Legal Services / Subject: LondonPleasureGardens
Will the decision made by the Mayor and his Cabinet to lend £3,300,000 of public funds to LondonPleasureGardens be subjected to scrutiny by either a scrutiny commission or the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee?
If so, when will this be scheduled in to the Council diary? / Summary
Administrators are still undertaking an options appraisal of the Silvertown Quays site.
Overview and Scrutiny Committee have not taken a decision to scrutinise the LondonPleasureGardens decision as it is inappropriate to do so before the administrators have completed their assessment and a full understanding of the current situation is known.
Public / 13768 / 06/09/12 / 01/10/2012 / Planning Application & Enforcement / Subject : Planning - Green Belt Land
1. What % of your borough/district is Metropolitan Green Belt (MGB)?
2. How many planning applications for residential development have you refused for Green Belt reasons between 01 January 2007 and 31 December 2011 (or within a similar 5 year period). Approximately how many dwellings does this equate to?
3. What density figure (dwellings per hectare) do you currently apply to residential development (not in the MGB)?
4. Do you plan to review your Green Belt boundary in the next 5 years?
Yes / No
5. Have you reviewed your Green Belt boundaries within the last 5 years?
Yes / No
If yes, please specify quantity of gain or loss of MGB (in hectares)
6. If you answered Yes to question 4 or 5 – what is/was the reason for your MGB review?
• To address housing need
• To protect further areas of MGB
• Other (please specify) / Summary
1. The percentage of Green Belt designated land in Newham is 2.09%.
2. There have been no planning applications on green belt for the period specified.
3. Newham does not specify a particular density figure for residential development. London Plan policy on optimising housing potential (LP Policy 3.4) is the relevant development plan policy in determining appropriate densities.
Further information on the London Plan policy can be found on the weblink below

4. No
5. No
6. Not applicable
Public / 13802 / 13/09/12 / 01/10/2012 / Food safety / Subject: Halal Food
1. The name of the companies providing halal food in Newham schools
2. How much the council paid those companies for the provision of halal food.
You can give me the value of the contract or the money you spent in the last financial year and if you don't know the exact figure you can give me an estimate / Summary
1.The current holder of the Councils’ corporate contract, which includes the supply of all meat including halal is William White Meats Ltd.
2.The spend for the year 2011/12 is £620k on meat and poultry of which £372K was spent on halal purchases.
Public / 13875 / 25/09/12 / 01/10/2012 / Parking Fines / Subject: Impounded vehicles
The total number of vehicles that had been impounded on the 28th July in the borough and on which roads. / Summary
A total of seventeen vehicles were impounded on 28th July 2012.
As requested please see below the roads from which these vehicles were removed.
Shakespeare Crescent
Altmore Avenue
Sibley Grove
Shaftesbury Road
Southchurch Road
Central Park Road
Sherrard Road
SHerrard Road
Burges Road
Lucas Avenue
Market Street
St Olaves Road
Caledon Road
Bendish Road
Ham Park Road
Tennyson Road
Browning Road
Business / 13758 / 05/09/12 / 02/10/2012 / Business Rates / Subject: Business Rates
All properties within your Billing Authority area with a credit held on the account
The fields required are all non-personal;
Primary Liable Party Name (Business Name)
Full Property Address
Postcode
Billing Authority Reference Number (Assessment Number)
Current Rateable Value
Credit Amount
Date Credit Applies To / Summary
Under the Freedom of Information Act we have the right to refuse a request for information held if an exemption applies. We believe in this case such an exemption applies and have decided to refuse your request.
Section 31 - Law Enforcement
This information is also exempt under Section 31 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Law Enforcement. This exemption applies because the release of these details would prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. Credits can be provided to companies in a variety of ways, including directly to a company representative by cash or cheque. Due to limited means of personal verification it is possible that credits could be claimed fraudulently.
It has been concluded that disclosure of this information is not in the public interest as the disclosure of these details may lead to criminal activities such as fraud.
Business / 13771 / 06/09/12 / 02/10/2012 / CYPS - Schools Traded Services / Subject : Schools Computer Connections
1.The cost of supplying broadband to each school within the remit of the county council. Please state the school name with address, postcode, cost of Internet circuit and where the circuit goes to. E.g. from school x to county hall network centre.
2.Any other costs to the council that form part of the school charging structure. E.g. staff dedicated to the department, cost of firewalling solution, cost of content filtering solution, cost of VLE.
3.Please say the supplier of each circuit (e.g. Virgin Media / BT).
4.Please say the speed and type of each circuit e.g. 10Mbit Fibre, 100Mbit Fibre, 2Mbit Learning stream.
5.The charging structure to schools. This should be concise and say exactly how each school’s annual cost is calculated. It should also show the cost of any ancillary services schools can purchase from the council. If the cost is calculated on a per pupil basis please include the full cost to that school for the year + the number of pupils at each school.
6.When each schools contract is due to expire with the council.
7.The notice period a school has to give to change to an alternate provider.
8.A list of applications the council offers to each school that is currently only accessible via the schools current council supplied Internet connection / WAN connection. If there are any please state how the council aims to allow schools / Academies not on the county councils network access to these services.
9.The councils stance on alternative broadband providers to schools and the advice they send to schools regarding choosing an alternate provider / Summary
1. The London Borough of Newham does not supply broadband to its schools. All schools have their own contract with London Grid for Learning (LGfL) for the supply of broadband and internet services.
2. London Grid for Learning provides all of these services as part of the annual broadband subscription charge.
3. We do not hold this information. The full details of the broadband packages and technical information would be held by London Grid for Learning or through the individual schools. It may be useful to note each school determines its own broadband bandwidth requirements and contracts directly with London Grid for Learning.
4. Please see our response to Question 3.
5. Please see our response to Question 3.
6. Please see our response to Question 3.
7. Please see our response to Question 3.
8. Please see our response to Question 3.
9. The London Grid for Learning Trust (LGfL) is a consortium of the 33 London Boroughs and as such schools are aware of the many benefits of a London-wide broadband procurement through LGfL.
For your information, please see below the contact details for The London Grid for Learning Trust.
The London Grid for Learning Trust
CI Tower
St Georges Square
New Malden
KT3 4TE
LGfL Switchboard: 020 82 55 55 55
Public / 13766 / 06/09/12 / 02/10/2012 / Corporate Strategies and Plans / Subject : Digital Inclusion Policy
1. The council’s most recent Digital Inclusion Strategy
2. The governance structure for Digital Inclusion within the borough
3. The council's expenditure on Digital inclusion and the specific projects that this was applied to
4. The council’s statistics on digital inclusion within the borough (numbers, groups and areas for example)
5. A breakdown of the projects that the council has run and funded in since 2010 to tackle Digital Inclusion
6. Minutes of meetings there the specific purpose is Digital Inclusion (if too difficult to remove sensitive info then no problems)
7. Any evaluation of success, performance reports, take up rates etc of digital inclusion strategies and projects promoted by the Council / Summary
The Council does not have a single or specific digital inclusion strategy or governance structure. In order to provide specific information with regards to this request would take Officers of the Council more than 2.5 days to gather such information and this would greatly exceed the appropriate time limit.
Under the Freedom of Information Act the Council has a right to refuse a request for information held if the cost of complying with a request exceeds the appropriate limit. The appropriate limit for local authorities is £450 or 2.5 days or 18 hours. We believe in this case such an exemption applies and has decided to refuse your request for information under Section 12(1) of the Act.
Section 12 Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit
(1) Section 1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit.
Public / 13770 / 07/09/12 / 02/10/2012 / Corporate Complaints and Ombudsman / Subject : Empty Residential Properties
(a) addresses of empty residential properties that are
within NEWHAM Borough Council area; and
(b) the names of the owners of those properties referred to in (a) / Summary
Under the Freedom of Information Act we have the right to refuse a request for information held if an exemption applies. We believe in this case Section 31(1)(a) exemption applies and has decided to refuse your request for information.