J Taylor

Direct Line:01536 535624
E-mail:
Our Ref:FOI/4811/17
Date:18 April 2017

DearSir/Madam

Request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your correspondence dated 21 March 2017requesting information under the above Act, received by Kettering Borough Council21 March 2017. You have requested the following information and I am able to advise you accordingly:

Under the FOI act please provide the following information, Workforce Management

1.Please provide the organisation’s total expenditure on temporary agency staff for 2015/16

2.Please state which staffing group has the highest temporary agency spend for 2015/16 (eg. admin & clerical, community services, legal etc.)

3.Does the organisation use any 3rd party services/software to manage agency workers? If so, please provide the following information:

a.Provider Name

b.Description of Services

c.Annual Cost to Organisation in 2015/16 (£)

d.Contract End Date

e.Framework used for procurement

4.Please provide the organisation’s total expenditure on internal bank staff for 2015/16 (£)

5.Does the organisation use any 3rd party services/software to manage bank workers? If so, please provide the following information:

a.Provider Name

b.Description of Services

c.Annual Cost to Organisation in 2015/16 (£)

d.Contract End Date

6.Payroll

a.How does the organisation manage their payroll? (in-house/outsourced)

b.How frequently does the organisation run its payroll? (monthly/weekly)

c.Which staff types does the payroll cover? (substantive/temporary)

d.How many payslips did the organisation process in 2015/16?

e.What is the annual cost of the payroll services provision in 2015/16?

f.If outsourced, which 3rd party do you use?

g.If outsourced, what is the contract end date?

The Council is receiving a rising number of requests for information relating to contracts, particularly in relation to IT related contracts which places an excessive burden upon our resources.

The Council routinely publishes a vast amount of information in relation to its spending and procurement/contracts in line with the Local Government Transparency Code at a level which satisfies the Public Interest, this can be found on our website by visiting the following link:

Your request for information over and above that which is published does not appear to have any clear public interest purpose. It seems to be a commercial request seeking details in order to sell goods or services.

Without clear public interest the Council considers commercial requests vexatious in line with the Upper Tribunal ruling recently upheld by the Court of appeal.

Judge Wikeley indicates in paragraphs 35 & 38 that improper use of FOIA [such as no public interest] is a valid consideration to make when considering if a request is vexatious. Using FOI to gain a commercial advantage or opportunity over another can be included within this definition.

If you disagree with the Council's initial assessment of your request please advise why you consider publication through FOI is in the public interest as opposed to a commercial purpose. Please be mindful that public interest does not mean “curiosity or desire” for the information nor the private interests of the requestor. Its meaning here is the “public good” therefore before we proceed with your request we will need to determine there is some good in the information requested.

Most information that we provide in response to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and/or Environmental Information Regulations 2004 requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases the copyright will be owned by Kettering Borough Council.

The copyright in other information may be owned by another person or organisation, as indicated by the information itself.

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

For information where the copyright is owned by Kettering Borough Council details of the conditions on reuse can be found on our website at:

For information where copyright is owned by another person or organisation, you must apply to the copyright owner to obtain their permission.

I trust the above information is helpful however if you are unhappy with my reply, you may request a review. Please address your request for a review to:

Lisa Hyde

Executive Director

Kettering Borough Council

Municipal Offices

Bowling Green Road

Kettering

NN15 7QX

A full response to your request for a review will be provided within 20 working days from the day it is received.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the review, you can appeal directly to the Information Commissions Office (ICO) who will investigate the Council’s decision regarding your request. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision until the Council has completed its review of your request. Details about how to complain to the Information Commissioner can be found on the ICO website at

Yours sincerely

Edward Frost

Apprentice

SMT Support

Kettering Borough Council

Municipal Offices

Bowling Green Road

KETTERING

NN15 7QX