Disclosure Log - December 2017

Details of all road accidents involving council vehicles for financial years 2015/2016, 2016/2017, and this tax year up until the present date (or as current as possible). To include details such as date, location, vehicle/s involved, damage and costs incurred and details of any insurance pay-outs

Information provided to applicant, where held

The following information for the years 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 to day: 

1. How much did the Authority spend on Ecological costs? This should include in-house costs and/or service agreement costs. It should not include costs related to arboriculture 

2. What is the ‘ecological services’ cost incurred per planning application

The Council’s Planning service does not record their spend on ecological costs; therefore they are unable to supply the information upon the ecological services costs incurred per planning application

The following information covering the last five financial years: 2012/13, 2013/14 , 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17: 

1.How many sexual harassment complaints/allegations have been made by council staff about co-workers/contractors to the council 

2. How many sexual harassment complaints/allegations have been made by members of the public about council staff/contractors to the council 

3. Of these complaints, how many were made against men and how many against women. Please give this figure for each individual financial year above 

4. Please provide a total figure of how many individual men and how many individual women have had complaints about them in the above five financial years 

1. 2012-13 = Zero

    2013-14 = Zero

    2014-15 = Zero

    2015-16 = Zero

    2016-17 = Zero

 2. As 1 above

 3. N/A

 4. N/A

 5. N/A

For the last 3 completed financial years and figures for the year 2017/2018 to date: 

1.How much was the Council charged for the kennelling of stray dogs per day for each of the financial years? 

2. How much was the Council’s total spend on kennelling for stray dogs per year for the above years? 

3. How many dogs has the Council kennelled in each year as a stray for these periods? 

4. Does the Council pay a retention fee for its stray dog provision, irrespective of how many dogs are seized and if so what is that fee? 

5. The name and address of the kennels that used to retain stray dogs 

6. What does the Council do with the dogs that are not claimed? For example pass onto a local charity, put to sleep, pass onto the kennels to rehome 

7.Does the Council receive a notification from the kennel on how many dogs are re-homed/put to sleep?

1. As follows: 

2014-2015 - £11.50 - £15 (more than one kennels used)

2015-2016 - £14 - £15 (more than one kennels used)

2016-2017 - £15

2017-2018 - £15 April – October/£20 November onwards 

2. As follows: 

2014-2015 - £4,040.00

2015-2016 - £5,814.45

2016-2017 - £4,642.20

2017-2018 - £3,332.01 

3. As follows: 

2014-2015 – 52

2015-2016 – 50

2016-2017 – 50

2017-2018 – 37 

4. No 

5. This information is withheld under Section 31(1)(a) as its release would or would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. In this case, releasing the details of any establishment(s) which stray dogs are taken to could lead to some owners attending and demanding the return of their dog(s) without going through the correct returns procedure. Before a dog is released, the owner must pay any kenneling fees that have been incurred.  Once a kenneling fee has been paid, dog(s) are collected from the establishment(s) used by the Council and taken back to their owner, they are not provided with the address to collect from direct 

In considering the Public Interest Test, withholding the names and addresses of these establishment(s) enables the process of returning logs dogs with their owners to be completed without the interference of other parties and allows the dogs to be cared for in a safe environment during their time at the kennels, which can often be stressful for them 

It is in the interest to the public to preserve this service which may be endangered if the addresse(s) of the establishment(s) used were to become public knowledge 

6. Dogs that are not claimed are passed to The Dogs Trust for re-homing 

All of the pre-application documentation for application 64000 including all communications and correspondence between the applicant or their representatives and the Council and meeting minutes of pre-application discussions

The following information held in relation to the implementation of the Zoo Licensing Act by the authority: 

1.For all licensed premises, a copy of the current zoo license, showing all conditions 

2.For all licensed premises, a copy of all zoo inspectors’ reports (Formal, informal and special) produced since 2011, with dates completed

3.For all premises a copy of all reports produced by your officers since 2011 during their annual zoo inspections, and dates completed 

4.For all exempted premises (as approved under 14.1.a of the zoo licensing act) a copy of their most recent inspection report, with date, by your officer and a copy of the original letter submitted requesting their exemption under 14.1.a

With regards to homelessness amongst 18-24 year olds, questions 1-3 for the last two years, broken down into quarters: 

• 1^st October – 31^st December 2015
• 1^st January – 31^st March 2016
• 1^st April – 30^th June 2016
• 1^st July – 30^th September 2016
• 1^st October – 31^st December 2016
• 1^st January – 31^st March 2017
• 1^st April – 30^th June 2017
• 1^st July – 30^th September 2017 

Within the local authority, how many 18-24 year olds: 

1.Presented themselves as homeless, or at risk of homelessness

2.Were subsequently assessed under the Housing Act 1996

3.Were subsequently accepted as statutorily homeless and owed a duty

1.Risk of homelessness: 

Quarter 3 2015 = 98

Quarter 4 2016  = 116

Quarter 1 2016 = 90

Quarter 2 2016 = 106

Quarter 3 2016 = 98

Quarter 4 2017 = 110

Quarter 1 2017 = 97

Quarter 2 2017 = 136 

2.Homeless applications: 

Quarter 3 2015 = 8

Quarter 4 2016  = 10

Quarter 1 2016 = 15

Quarter 2 2016 = 6

Quarter 3 2016 = 9

Quarter 4 2017 = 14

Quarter 1 2017 = 18

Quarter 2 2017 = 21 

1.The number of workers employed by North Devon Council that are European Citizens 

2. Details of the Councils plan to support, retain or replace these workers during and after the brexit transition period

The applicant was advised that the Council does employ some European Citizens, however it is unable to provide the specific number of employees due to the way in which the information that the Council does hold, is recorded 

The Human Resources (HR) department only records the ethnic origin of a member of staff where it has been disclosed, but not the nationality, therefore this information is not fully held for every member of current staff 

HR will hold a record of some members of staff being a European Citizen on their individual employee files, but only for the purposes of obtaining right to work in the UK information during the recruitment process where it is appropriate, which would include obtaining a record of the individual's nationality. However, they have only been required to obtain this information in more recent years, therefore there could be some long standing members of staff who may be a European citizen that were never required to provide right to work evidence at the time of their employment and so their files will not record this information 

1. A spreadsheet detailing all contracts between the local authority and Emmaus UK or any of its individual branches in the Council’s area that were signed after 6 April 2013. Those details should include: 

a. Date contract signed

b. Total value of contract

c. Summary of services rendered by contract 

2. A copy of each of the contracts included in point 1

The Council’s Housing team confirms that we do not have any contracts with Emmaus UK or any of its individual branches with the Council’s area signed after April 2013

The following information relating to accepted planning applications in the area covered by North Devon District Council, where developments are to be/have been carried out during 2015-2020 

How many planning applications have been accepted for improvements to: 

1. Transport links eg. new rail links, new road links
2. New commercial units (eg. bars, clubs, cinemas, live venues)
3. Communication developments (eg. fibre optic lines, wifi access)
4. Erection of large scale dwelling estates 

Each of the above factors be broken down by: 

1. Type of development
2. Date of requested development start
3. Location of development within the area covered by North Devon District Council
4. Agent/sponsor - who has submitted the planning
5. Related cost of development

Information provided to the applicant expect details regarding ‘date of requested development start’ and related cost of development’ which is information not held by the authority 

Applicant also provided with the link to the Planning Tracker which can be used to search upon the individual planning applications using the planning reference numbers provided in the response 

Since 1st August 2015: 

1. The number of new and renewed taxi (Hackney Carriage) driver licenses  granted

2. The number of new and renewed Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) driver licenses granted

3. The number of taxi licences granted to drivers with criminal convictions

4. The number of PHV licenses granted to drivers with criminal convictions

In the cases of those convicted with regard to Question 3 and Question 4:

i. The nature and date of conviction

ii. Whether said driver’s conviction was known at the time of the licence being approved

iii. In each case, the current licence status of the driver

5. The criteria/policy that is applied when deciding on an application from a driver with a current/spent conviction

1. Since 1 August 2015 the Council has granted 53 new and renewed 446 Hackney Carriage driver licences

2. Since 2 August 2015 the Council has granted four new and renewed eight Private Hire driver licences

3 and 4

The information requested under 3 and 4 is not recorded centrally within a database or computer system that the Licensing team can easily identify, locate, extract and collate.  Licensing would need to manually check 272 licenced driver files to identify, locate, retrieve and collate the information sought which they estimate they would need to spend approximately 10 minutes checking each licence. Licensing estimate it would take approximately 45 hours to provide this information which exceeds the limit set under Section 12 of the Act of 18 hours 

5.This information is published on the Council’s website: 

https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/media/377531/hackney-policy-010816.pdf

1. The total number of entries on North Devon Council’s self-build register for the base period 2015-16 

2. Pursuant to 1. above and if applicable, the number entries on Part 1 of the Council’s self-build register for the base period 2015/16 

3. Total number of suitable development permissions which North Devon Council has given up to 7 November 2017 to meet the demand arising from the base period 2015/16 

4. For each permission given in answer to 3. above, details of: 

a) Planning permission reference number;

b) Application type (eg. full, outline)

c. A brief description of the proposal (eg. erection of detached two-storey dwellings)

1. The first statutory base period for the Self-Build and Custom House-Building register was 1st April 2016 – October 2016.  For this base period, there were 22 individuals entered  and 1 association (for 1 plot) entered on the North Devon register 

2. For the base period April 1^st 2016 to 30^th October 2016 the North Devon Self-build and Custom House-building register was not divided into Parts 1 and 2 

3. In the period 1^st April 2016 – 30^th October 2016, the number of suitable development permissions which were given to meet this requirement for 23 plots is 64 permissions (for 81 plots)

4. Information, except for the descriptions of the proposals as can be found on the planning tracker on Council website, provided in the form of a table which cannot be uploaded to this dataset. This information is available on request 

Planning Tracker:

http://planning.northdevon.gov.uk/search.asp

1. How much money is spent by the council, or by contracted caterers, on disposable plastic-lined coffee cups broken down by year for the past three financial years (2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17)

2.  How much money is spent by the council, or by contracted caterers, on disposable plastic cutlery, broken down by year for the past three financial years (2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17) 

3. Does the council intend to continue purchasing disposable coffee cups and plastic cutlery? 

4. Does the council have recycling facilities in its district that have the capability to recycle the specific coffee cups and plastic cutlery purchased?

1.  2016/17 = £468.65

     2015/16 = £699.23

     2014/15 = £179.94 

2. The Council does not purchase plastic cutlery 

3. The Council are looking at the use of single use plastics and this was discussed at Executive Committee; the minutes of the meeting are available to the public and can be found on page 3 of the link below (item: minute 78b):

https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/viewimage/?ID=F2EABEB1-61DA-4F27-B803-DF690C0DC73F&DS=9020 

In accordance with Section 21(1) of the Act, the Council is not obliged to provide information that is already in the public domain. However, it does have a duty under Section 16(1) to provide all applicants advice and assistance in order to assist with locating the information, which the Council has done in providing the link to the information published above 

For the last two tax years (2015/16 and 2016/17): 

A The total amount paid out in housing benefit to private sector landlords 

B The total amount paid out in housing benefit to social housing providers 

C The total amount of overpayments to 

(A) Private Sector Landlords

(B) Social Housing Providers 

From the total amount of over payments to both social and private sector housing providers how much has: 

(A) been and collected

(B) outstanding

A 2015/16 = £14,552,278   

   2016/17 = £13,963,730

B 2015/16 = £12,912,566   

    2016/17 = £12,783,587

C For the following figures, Revenues are unable to split between private and social landlords:

2015/16 = £831,230

2016/17 = £633,278

D  a) 2015/16 = £488,660.21

        2016/17 = £256,623.30

    b) 2015/16 = £245,645.93

        2016/17 = £287,457.77

    c) 2015/16 = £  96,923.86

        201617 = £  89,196.93

Environmental Information Search for the Land Adjacent to Little Bias, Croyde (grid reference: SS43604 38687) 

1. Pre-license landfill sites within 500m of the subject site, including:

• license holder
• location of landfill/grid reference
• nature of fill material
• dates of operation
• details of any leachate/landfill gas problems 

2. Pollution incidents/known areas of contaminated land within 500m of the subject site, including:

• location/grid reference
• previous uses
• nature/source of pollution
• any further details 

3. Part B APC authorisations within 500m of the subject site, including:

• authorisation holder
• location/grid reference
• nature of authorisation 

4. Private water supplies within 500m of the subject site, including:

• location/grid reference
• details of source and abstraction purpose 

5. Storage of Petroleum Hydrocarbons 

6. Records of any previous Site Investigations on or in close proximity to the site 

7. Records of any un-exploded ordnance in the site area 

8. Any known problems with ground gas in the site area 

9. Any potential issues regarding naturally elevated contaminant concentrations 

1 and 2.  None; please see attached map and spreadsheet (QGIS contaminated land report) 

3. None 

4. One Private Water Supply – Unison Croyde Bay Holiday Resort, Croyde, EX33 1QB, grid reference: 243863/138874, multiple sources (borehole + mains backup) 

5. There are two Historic Tank Facilities, see attached map and spreadsheet 

6. None 

7. Environmental Health hold no records that are relevant to this question 

8. As 7 above 

9. as 7 above

10. None

List of companies that became responsible for non domestic rates between the 15th November 17 and 30 November 2017, and including the following for each record; 

* Business name

* Business address

* Type of property

* Date of liability

Applicant advised that the Council is unable to provide the information sought in the format requested 

The reporting element that is used by Revenues is only able to extract information on the day that a report is run, which then provides a snapshot as to how the accounts stand on that specific day.  The system does not allow the team to select specific historic/past dates back over the years to run reports on to see which premises became liable for NDR.  The system used by Revenues is a live system that is continually being updated 

Instead, a comparison can be made between the datasets that are published on the Council’s website which provide a snapshot of the accounts held with the authority as at 1 July 2017 and 1 October 2017, which are the dates that the reports were run by Revenues

http://www.northdevon.gov.uk/open-data/?ID=7ED2F924-B000-4771-B16B-181DB316F4E1&DS=4005 

Information with regard to commercial property investments made by the Council (property that has been invested in to produce an income and/or capital growth rather than for the delivery of services or housing): 

1.Has the Council invested in commercial property as outlined above since 2010 or has it the intention of doing so in the next 3 years? If yes: 

· an electronic copy of the decision(s) taken to approve this policy, or a link to it via a public website?

· how big in monetary terms is the fund available for this activity and how much has been invested to date?

· what is the percentage allocation of the investment between market sectors: offices, retail, industrial, hotel and leisure, other?

· was the investment funded from borrowing or from existing reserves? Please provide the percentage split, where relevant.

· If the Council did/will borrow money to invest, where did/will it borrow the money from?

1. Full organisation structure of the council 

2. A detailed structure of the procurement department inclusive of the salaries of the posts in the procurement department 

3. The recruitment spend for senior or executive recruitment services and the suppliers 

1.Applicant referred to Council website where this information is published:

https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/council/chief-executive-and-senior-management/ 

2 and 4  Applicant advised that the Council does not have a procurement department or a contracts management department, however the following members of staff are employed: 

Procurement and Service Delivery Manager (SCP £40,057 - £48,409)

Project and Procurement Officer (SCP £29,323 - £39,177)

Solicitor who provides legal advice and drafts relevant documentation in contracts and procurement matters (SCP £32,486 - £29,177) 

2015/16 = £4,379.66 broken down as follows: 

Bluesoup Communications Ltd = £3,529.66

Ricsrecruit = £500.00

Syon = £350.00 

2016/17 = £4,941.50 broken down as follows: 

Bluesoup Communications Ltd = £3,031.50

Ricsrecruit = £1,210.00

Syon = £700.00 

2017/18 (9 months) = £7,178.00 broken down as follows: 

Bluesoup Communications Ltd = £5,314.00

Ricsrecruit = £550.00

Enforcement/Deb Collection Contracts re Parking Fines, Council Tax, Business Rates, Commercial Rents, High Court Writs: 

1.Current suppliers used to collect debts 

2. Number of cases issued to enforcement agents during 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 to date 

3. Enforcement/debt collection contract start, end and extension dates 

4.Details of most recent procurement process for enforcement services 

5.Are the Council’s Revenues, Benefits, Parking services outsourced, and if so, who is the supplier responsible 

1. Parking fines, Council and Business Rates = Ross and Roberts Ltd, Rossendales

Commercial Arrears = Credit Protection Association 

High Court Writs = N/A 

2. 

Parking Fines:

15/16 (actual 01.04.15 – 27.07.15)  = 122

16/17 (actual 28.04.17 – 31.03.17) = 360

17/18 (actual 01.04.17 – 04.12.17) = 855 

Please note that due to changing enforcement agents and implementing a new system, no cases were raised between 28.07.15 and 27.01.17 

Council Tax:

15/16 = 2,060

16/17 = 165

17/18 = 119 

Commercial Arrears: Zero for all years

High Court Writs = N/A 

3.

Parking, Council Tax and Business Rates:

Start date = 01.04.16

End date = 31.03.18

1 option to extend by 24 months 

Commercial Arrears:

Start date = 01.04.17

End date = 01.09.19

No contract extension provision 

High Court Writs: N/A 

4. 

Parking fines, Council Tax, Business Rates:

Dynamic Purchasing System – Most recent procurement exercise carried out in 2016. Yorkshire purchasing Authority on behalf of Devon authorities 

Commercial Arrears:

The contract value falls below the £5K threshold 

High Court Writs: N/A 

5.No, all provided in-house 

1. How many sexual harassment complaints/allegations have been made about Councillors to the council in the last five financial years 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 

2. Of these complaints, how many were made against men and how many against women. Please give this figure for each individual financial year above 

3. A total figure of how many individual men and how many individual women have had complaints about them in the above five financial years 

1.2012/13 = Zero

   2013/14 = Zero

   2014/15 = Zero

   2015/16 = Zero

   2016/17 = Zero

2.2012/13 = N/A

  2013/14 = N/A

  2014/15 = N/A

  2015/16 = N/A

  2016/17 = N/A

3.2012/13 = N/A

  2013/14 = N/A

  2014/15 = N/A

  2015/16 = N/A

  2016/17 = N/A

4. N/A

1. Please confirm that you run a LCV fleet (up to 3.5 tonnes)

2. The name, email address and phone number of the person(s) responsible for the specifying and procurement of any fleet

3. Approximate renewal date of any fleet 

1. Yes
2. Paul Burton, 01271 318527, paul.burton@northdevon.gov.uk
3. 2018

CON29 information for a property in EX36 4PH

Does the Council use a company called Super Recognisers International or any of their subsidiaries

As reported in March 2017, local authorities were provided an extra £25 million due to the Cheshire West outcome of the Supreme Court ruling. The applicant requested the following: 

• How much did each local authority receive from this amount?
• How much is left that has not been used?
• Was some of the money to different team budgets due to not being used?
• If yes, how much was moved to another team budget

As this was a one time emergency deal, how are local authorities funding DoLS year on year?

Applicant advised that this funding would have been paid directly to Devon County Council and provided with the contact email address for their Information Compliance team:

CON29 information for a property in EX22 2EL

A breakdown of credit balances accrued since earliest records for the amounts owing to all incorporated companies within the authorities billing area including the following information: 

A) The name of each business in respect of which non-domestic rate credit balances remain payable

Applicant referred to the Council's credit balance datasets that are published on the Council's website and updated quarterly: 

http://www.northdevon.gov.uk/open-data/?ID=7ED2F924-B000-4771-B16B-181DB316F4E1&DS=4005

Information requested under D, E and F refused as to provided would exceed the cost limit of 18 hours 

Estimated by the Revenues department that only a manual search would enable the information to be identified, located, retrieved and collated, however it would take approximately 60 hours to complete this task

Refunds for excessive water and sewerage charges:

• All recorded information (including Committee Reports, minutes, e-mails) on the Council’s liability to refund excessive water and sewerage charges and the arrangements for such refunds
• A copy of the Council’s standard tenancy agreement including the service charge schedule from 2001 onwards including any subsequent amended tenancy agreements used
• A copy of all correspondence setting out the negotiations surrounding the Council’s Agreement (as social housing landlord) with its Water Company regarding the Council’s billing of social housing tenants
• A copy of any agreement/contract between the Council and the water company pertaining to the supply of water to the Council’s social housing tenants irrespective of whether the Council considers itself to be an agent or water re-seller

CON29 information for a property in EX33 2PF

IT Users and devices used (Desktop PCs, Thin Client Terminals, Laptop/Notebook computers, Tablet PCs/ipads) with approximate ages

CON29 information for a property in EX37 9SS

Applicant advised that there is no information held

i) Name and Contact details of Council's Fleet Manager, Head of Waste Operations, and Head of Streetscene Services (or equivalent job titles where relevant)

ii) Number of Refuse Collection Vehicles in operation, type and specification (ie. chassis, body and bin lift) and who operates them

iii) Number of Trade Waste Collection vehicles in operation, type and specification (ie chassis, body and bin lift)? and who operates them

iv) Does the council have any Bin Lifters on vehicles mechanically prepared for Bin weighing Systems?

v) Does the Council operate and charge for Green Waste or Garden collection, if no, does the Council have any plans to charge in the future?

vi) Is the Council currently using vehicle mounted weighing systems on its Fleet, if so, what type and specification is the Council using?

vii) How does the Council provide/record weights of individual bins per bin collection?

viii) Does the Council use Bin RFID technology?

xi) How does the Council archive and report on bin weight data?

x) How does the Council optimise  Urban Management Services ? (eg. Streetscene Services - Bin level sensors, Street Cleaning, Route Optimisation, Asset Tracking)

i)Fleet = Paul Burton

paul.burton@northdevon.gov.uk

01271 318527 

Operations = Ricky McCormack

ricky.mccormack@northdevon.gov.uk

01271 318503 

ii)20 vehicles – 16 x 26 tonne Dennis Eagle, Elite, Terburg bin lift

2 x 16 tonne Renault/Farid, Terburg bin lift

2 x 16 tonne DAF/NTM, Terburg bin lift

All operated by staff 

iii) Two vehicles – Dennis Eagle, Elite, Terburg bin lift, operated by staff 

iv) No 

v) Yes

vi) Yes, fitted by Dennis Eagle on purchase – no specification details held 

vii) The Council does not provide/record weights of individual bins per collection 

viii) No 

xi) No 

x) By staff feedback

Local Government Estates Strategy 

1. Whether the Local Authority has any plans to establish or move any of its municipal offices to new premises or to redevelop existing premises in the coming five years 

2. Whether, as part of an estates strategy, the Local Authority has plans to co-locate with any of the following services: 

· Central Government

· Other Local Government (including district or county)

· Police services

· Fire and Rescue services

· Ambulance services

· NHS 

Applicant advised that the Council has no plans to establish or move any of its municipal offices to new premises or to redevelop existing premises in the coming five years, or co-locate with any other services as per the bulleted suggestions

1. The name of the company currently supplying energy to council premises, for electricity and gas

2. The name of the tariff that the electricity and gas are supplied by

1.  British Gas via the Crown Commercial Service 

2. The Council does not have a tariff as such, just a rate which changes every few months depending on the bulk buy rates which the Crown Commercial Services can achieve 

3. 01.06.16 – 01.06.17 = £131,303.93

Applicant advised that there is no information held

At 20 December 2017 the amount of ‘discretionary relief’ the Council has awarded is £77,013.35. This is ongoing as it has sent application forms to ratepayers who potential qualify and these are still being returned

A full list of companies that have become liable for business rates between 1 and 20 December 2017, providing the following for each record: 

• Full address
• Business name
• Date of liability
• RV
• Type of property

Applicant advised that the Council is unable to provide the information sought in the format requested 

The reporting element that is used by Revenues is only able to extract information on the day that a report is run, which then provides a snapshot as to how the accounts stand on that specific day.  The system does not allow the team to select specific historic/past dates back over the years to run reports on to see which premises became liable for NDR.  The system used by Revenues is a live system that is continually being updated 

Instead, a comparison can be made between the datasets that are published on the Council’s website which provide a snapshot of the accounts held with the authority as at 1 July 2017 and 1 October 2017, which are the dates that the reports were run by Revenues

http://www.northdevon.gov.uk/open-data/?ID=7ED2F924-B000-4771-B16B-181DB316F4E1&DS=4005

Applicant advised that that the datasets will be updated during January 2018

CON29 information regarding a property in EX31 3GT

Applicant advised that there is no information held