Disclosure Log - June 2020

How many households of the council have been relocated outside of the council and where have they been relocated in the past ten years (from 2008/09 through the end of January 2020)

Please break these figures down into how many residents per household were relocated and where they were relocated to, per month

For example, in May 2018: 82 households were relocated outside of the council. 2 households (comprised of eight individuals) were relocated to Bradford, five families (comprised of 20 individuals) were relocated to Redcar

If available, please answer how many residents were relocated from outside of the council to housing within your council in the past ten years (from 2008/09 through the end of January 2020

Applicant provided with the information for the years held (2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21) in Excel format, which are available upon request

Due to a systems change and inability for the historical data to be migrated over, the Housing team no longer holds the information prior to June 2018

The team does not currently record the details of those relocated into the North Devon area, however this is something that the team are looking into and whether this can be added onto their system to allow for future reporting

For the years 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20:

1. How much money has been overpaid to staff? Overpayments may include but are not excluded to, PAYE, benefits, pensions, loans etc.

2. Of any monies overpaid, how much of that money was written off for each year?

Overpayment to employees 2017/18
Total overpaid to employees £3,186.40

All overpayments were either recovered from current employees or by Sundry Debtor

Overpayment to employees 2018/19
Total overpaid to employees £5,013.50

Overpayments recovered from current employees. One overpayment being recovered through an ongoing Sundry Debtor recovery process

Overpayment to employees 2019/20
Total overpaid to employees £2,513.31

Overpayments recovered from current employees. One overpayment being recovered through an ongoing Sundry Debtor recovery process

No overpayments have been written off for these periods. All overpayments have either been recovered or in an ongoing recovery process

How many homeless people has the authority housed in the following months:

• January 2020
• February 2020
• March 2020
• April 2020

The following numbers are those re-housed from Temporary Accommodation:

Relief - Jan = Four
           Feb = Two
           Mar = Four
           Apr = One

Final Duty - Jan = Three
                  Feb = Three
                  Mar = Five
                  Apr = Zero

Decision – Jan = Two
                Feb = Three
                Mar = One
                Apr = Zero

Commercialism in Local Government

Does the Council offer any of its professional services (IT, Finance, HR, Legal, Planning, etc.) on a commercial basis? If yes:
1. Which services are offered?
2. Is it only to other local authorities or external or both?
3. What basis is the charge, fixed fee, hourly rate, etc.?
4. Does the Council operate a separate trading account to monitor the financial trading position?

For 2018 (from January) 2019 and 2020 broken down by year:

1. How many applications were made under Part 7 of the 1996, as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act, and with domestic abuse as the main reason for their homelessness? (total number)

2.a) How many of the applications made under Part 7 of the 1996, as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act, and with domestic abuse as the main reason for their homelessness were refused? (total number)

2.b) How many of the refused applications were because of:

- Space (total number)
- No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) (total number)
- Mental health (total number)

- Did not meet the risk threshold for access to service (total number)
- Space too close to danger area (total number)
- Disability (total number)
- Substance use (total number)
- Previously evicted from refuge (total number)
- Older male child (total number)
- Space not ready (total number)
- Large family (total number)
- Uncertain benefit status (total number)
- Offending (total number)
- History of violence/arson (total number)
- Would not under occupy space (total number)
- Would only accept woman from local area (total number)
- Language (total number)
- Other (please specify if possible and total number)

3. How many applications were made under Part 7 of the Housing Act
Housing Act 1996, as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act, and with domestic abuse as the main reason for their homelessness were placed by you in:

- B&B accommodation (total number)
- (other) Hotel accommodation (total number)
- Refuge Accommodation (total number)
- Hostels (total number)

- Houses in Multiple Occupation (total number)

1.2018 = 84 Approaches to housing as main reason Domestic Violence
2019 = 139 Approaches to housing as main reason Domestic Violence
2020 = 54 Approaches to housing as main reason Domestic Violence

2.a) As follows:
2018 = of the 84 approaches, 58 cases had a full homeless application taken
2019 = of the 139 approaches, 113 cases had a full homeless application taken
2020 = of the 54 approaches, 41 cases had a full homeless application taken

2 b) The Council is unable to answer this part of your request as it refers to refusal of accommodation within refuges; the Council does not operated any refuges in its area. There is an independent refuge operated by North Devon Against Domestic Abuse (NDADA) in Barnstaple that you may wish to contact.

3.Temporary Accommodation Offered:
2018 = B&B = Eight Self-contained = Six
2019 = B&B = 19 Self-contained = Eight
2020 = B&B = Eight Self-contained = One

CON29 information relating to a property in EX32 9FN

1. Does the Council currently have an approved Prepaid Banking Card solution within its authority/region?
2. If so, what date is the supply contract due for review/renewal?
3. Please provide an outline of supplier/product/service requirements
4. Does the Council have an annual budget dedicated to the supply of Prepaid Banking Card solutions within its authority/region?

Emergency funding for local authorities to help them respond to coronavirus pressures:

- What area of council work that funding has been allocated to (both tranche one and two)
- the amount of funding allocated to each piece of work

1. How many Regulation of Investigative Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) Applications were submitted by council staff in the 2017, 2018 and 2019?

2. How many council staff are currently trained to enable them to submit a Regulation of Investigative Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) Application?

3. What was your training budget in 2017, 2018, 2019 for Regulation of Investigative Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) Training?

4. Was any of your training budget made up by grants? If so, how much?
5. What training courses did you commission in 2018/2019 on the topic of Regulation of Investigative Powers Act 2000 (RIPA)?

a) How many sessions of each course did you commission?

b) What was the price per course?

c) Who delivered each course?

d) What was the method of delivery (eg. face or face, online etc?)

6. What is the name of the councils Monitoring Officer?

a) What are their contact details?

7. What are the names of the councils Authorising Officers?

a) What are their contact details?

8. When was your last inspection from the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office?

9. When is your next inspection from the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office?

1. 2017 = Zero
   2018 = Zero
   2019 = Zero

2. Seven

3. Act Now online RIPA training, August 2018 was paid out of Legal Training Budget, cost was £245 (exc. VAT). Training was for five individuals at £49.00 per head

4. No

5. 1) Act Now online RIPA Training (August 2018)

    2) Internal RIPA workshop
    (September 2018)

(1a) - Act Now RIPA training for 5 individuals (Senior Management Team). Access to on-line training was available for 60 days
(2a) - One internal session to the Council’s Managers Forum, presented by the Council’s Monitoring Officer in October 2018

(1b) - £245.00 excluding VAT (£49.00 per head)
(2b) – Not applicable

(1c) – Act Now
(2c) – Monitoring Officer

(1d) – Online
(2d) – Face to face

6. Trevor Blatchford, legalservices@northdevon.gov.uk, 01271 388231

7. List of Officers Able to Grant Authorisations:

Ken Miles – Head of Paid Service
Jon Triggs – Head of Resources (Deputy to Head of Paid Service for Confidential authorisations)
Jeremy Mann – Head of Environmental Health and Housing

Please refer to the following link, where the contact details are published:
https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/council/chief-executive-and-senior-management/

8. The Council had an Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO) inspection, 2 November 2017. The result of this inspection was that we would be contacted again in 6 months for a follow up review

9. This is currently unknown

Whether breweries are eligible to access the Covid-19 support for businesses operating in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors through your council, specifically the £25,000 grant, provided they meet the requirements of having a rateable value of less than £51,000, and the year-long business rates exemption?

If only some and not all breweries are eligible for this support, please outline the conditions under which a brewery is eligible

Applicant provided with a copy of the North Devon Policy for Business Grants which answers the request. The policy is available upon request

CON29 information relating to a property in EX31 3TR

Applicant provided with the information, where held and also directed to the Council’s website for some of the information

1. How much funding has been received by the local council from central government to support Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) scheme in England during corona virus?

2. How many hereditaments has the local authority identified may be in scope to receive the Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) scheme? Please provide the relevant BA reference numbers?

3. How many Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) scheme payments have been made to hereditaments to date (please confirm the date of extract)?

4. The total amount of money that the local authority in England has distributed for Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) scheme to date (please confirm the date of extract)?

5. A list of NNDR Business Rates accounts who were in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief or whom subsequently became entitled to such relief as of 11 March 2020 for all incorporated companies within the authorities billing area, including the following information:

i) The name of each incorporated company in respect of which account is held
ii) The properties address in which the account relates to
iii) A write to address and write to company name, if applicable

1. £50.9 million

2. As at 8 June, 3,988 hereditaments have been identified. However, I am unable to provide you with the BA reference numbers. The Revenues team has raised concern that by making the relevant BA reference numbers publicly available could lead to fraudulent grant claims being made. Once a BA reference number is known, this could then be used to find the full address on the VOA website and then details of the occupier/ratepayer can then be identified using an internet search engine. It is considered that the release of this information would be likely to prejudice the prevention and detection of crime and therefore the Council considers that this information is exempt from disclosure under Section 31(1)(a) of the Act

3. This is published by the government each week for all authorities. The latest update can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses?utm_source=09e4e35b-36f2-441f-b38d614145d8c4de&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate

4. This can be calculated using the information provided in the response to 3 above.

5. The latest details of those accounts in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief are published on the Council’s website:

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

Unfortunately the reporting element that is used to pull various information from the Revenues system is only able to extract information on the day that a report is run and this then provides a snapshot as to how the accounts stand on that day. The Revenues team are unable to choose specific historic/past dates back over the years to run reports on to see which premises became liable for NDR. The reporting system that used by Revenues is a ‘live’ system that is continually being updated

The following contract information relating to the following corporate software/enterprise applications:

A. Enterprise Resource Planning Software Solution (ERP)

ERP system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades

B. Primary Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solution

CRM system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. Example of CRM systems the organisation may use could include Microsoft Dynamics, Front Office, Lagan CRM, Firmstep

C. Primary Human Resources (HR) and Payroll Software Solution

HR/payroll system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. In some cases the HR contract maybe separate to the payroll contract please provide both types of contracts. Example of HR/Payroll systems the organisation may use could include iTrent, Resourcelink

D. The organisation’s primary corporate Finance Software Solution

Finance system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. Example of finance systems the organisation may use could include E-Business suite, Agresso (Unit4), eFinancials, Integra, SAP

For each of the categories above:

1. Software Category: ERP, CRM, HR, Payroll, Finance

2. Name of Supplier

3. The brand of the software

4. Description of the contract

5. Number of Users/Licenses

6. Annual Spend

7. Contract Duration

8. Contract Start Date

9. Contract Expiry

10. Contract Review Date

11. Contact Details of the person within the Council responsible for this particular software contract (name, job title, email, contact number)

A – Enterprise Resource Planning Software Solution (ERP)

The Council does not have an ERP system

B. Primary Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solution

Please refer to the Council’s contract’s Register: https://procontract.due-north.com/ContractsRegister/ViewContractDetails?contractId=d559b8ec-24dd-e811-80ef-005056b64545&p=696a9836-1895-e511-8105-000c29c9ba21

C. Primary Human Resources (HR) and Payroll Software Solution

Please refer to the Council’s Contracts Register: https://procontract.due-north.com/ContractsRegister/ViewContractDetails?contractId=25de4713-8399-e911-80f8-005056b64545&p=696a9836-1895-e511-8105-000c29c9ba21

D - The organisation’s primary corporate Finance Software Solution

Please refer to the Council’s Contracts Register: https://procontract.due-north.com/ContractsRegister/ViewContractDetails?contractId=f3b6f5ef-55a3-e711-80e6-005056b64545&p=696a9836-1895-e511-8105-000c29c9ba21

1. See above
2. Please refer to the contracts linked above
3. ERP – Not Applicable
CRM – Firmstep
HR/Payroll – Itrent
Finance – Civica Financials
4. Please refer to the contracts linked above
5. ERP – Not Applicable
CRM – Site licence
HR/Payroll – 500 users
Finance – Site licence (unlimited users, within the organisation)
6. Please refer to the contracts linked above
7. Please refer to the contracts linked above
8. Please refer to the contracts linked above
9. Please refer to the contracts linked above
10. Please refer to the contracts linked above
11. ERP – Not Applicable
CRM – Claire Holm, Customer and Corporate Communications Manager, 01271 388239
HR/Payroll – Nikki Gordon, HR Manager, 01271 318548
Payroll – Adam Tape, Exchequer & Technical Manager, 01271 388875
Finance - Tony Rumble, Accountancy Services Manager, 01271 388220

CON29 information relating to a property in EX34 7HB

Applicant provided with the information, where held and also directed to the Council’s website for some of the information

When is the contract regarding the Council’s IT Health Check under the GSI Code of Connection standard due for renewal?

The name of the Council’s Chief Information Officer or comparable job title?

Details of the Council’s IT Health Contract are published on its Contract Register via the following link:

https://procontract.due-north.com/ContractsRegister/ViewContractDetails?contractId=a626d387-6811-e811-80ea-005056b64545&p=696a9836-1895-e511-8105-000c29c9ba21

The Council does not have a Chief Information Officer. The Comparable role is held by Nina Lake As Business Information Manager within ICT

CON29 information relating to a property in EX31 4RJ

Applicant provided with the information, where held and also directed to the Council’s website for some of the information

Heads of agreement relating to Byron and Sandy Lane development, For 106 funding for local affordable housing CLT members

Information provided to the applicant in PDF format, available upon request

The number of people who have presented to the council as homeless between 23rd March 2020 and 7th June 2020

What proportion of these has the council been able to support into emergency or temporary accommodation?

1. In the last financial year 2019/20 how many incidents did the authority record where refuse collectors were assaulted by members of the public while carrying out council duties? Please give a brief description of the circumstances of the incident

CON29 information relating to a property in EX34 0NS

CON29 information relating to a property in EX34 7HN

What is the cost breakdown on the revenue lost by the Council during the Coronavirus Pandemic and how was much is the short fall in the money required in support by UK government to cover the cost of the pandemic, and lost revenue by the council during this time

Currently the Council is reporting the projected net impact on budget of £3.974m; breakdown as follows;

Income reductions (fees and charges) £2.249 million
Income reductions (council tax & business rates = £1.116 million
Additional costs in relation to Covid-19 = £0.609 million
Total projected net impact on authority = £3.974 million

With Covid-19 support funding received of £1.018m still leaves the Council with a projected funding shortfall of £2.956 million

CON29 information relating to a property in EX31 1BG

Applicant provided with the information, where held and also directed to the Council’s website for some of the information

A copy of your up-to-date public register of Part B & Part A2 permits, any PPC/IPPC Enforcement notices, and Contaminated Land entries held on the Part IIA public register, if available

If the registers themselves are not available would it be possible for you to advise me of any changes that have occurred to these registers since June 2014

Copy of the Council’s public register of Part B & Part A2 permits can be found via the following link:

https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/open-data/?ID=6D869870-EF56-455D-8985-3B36CA7B9D34&DS=4005

The dataset will be due for updating from 17 December 2020

The Council has not served any PPC/IPPC Enforcement notices and there have been no Contaminated Land entries held on the Part IIA public register for the period June 2014 to date

CON29 information relating to a property in EX36 4AB

CON29 information relating to a property in EX33 2PF

CON29 information relating to a property in EX33 2EQ

1. Within the local authority, what is your approach to data and analytics?

a) We have a defined, centralised data and analytics strategy, at senior level

b) We have department level approach - each department is responsible for analytics in their own areas

c) We don’t have a coordinated/defined approach

d) Don’t know

2. Which department(s) within your local authority are responsible for the analysis and management of information and data? (Please specify)

What training is provided on how to use these tools/platforms? (see below examples)

We train all users using internally delivered courses
We train all users using third party courses
We invest in self-teaching materials (eg. paid-for online manuals/ e-learning content)
We let users self-teach using resources they can find themselves
We do not train users and do not invest in training users
Other (please specify)

3. How often is training provided on these tools and platforms?
Once a quarter
Once a year
As and when needed
Never
Other (please specify)

. Which of the following data and analytics tools do you use? (tick all that apply)

Data warehouse / data store
ETL analytics
Dashboards and data visualisation
Microsoft SQL Server
MySQL
Oracle RDBMS

SAP HR
SAP CRM
SAP HANA
SAP (Other, please specify)
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Other (please specify)
None
Alteryx
Tableau Prep Builder
Pyramid Analytics
Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
SAP Business Objects
Sybase
Informatica PowerCentre
Other (please specify)
None
Tableau Desktop
Tableau Server
Microsoft Power BI
QlikView
Qlik Sense
Pyramid Analytics
Logi Analytics
Looker

Other (please specify)

1. C

2. Departments are responsible for managing their own data and training needs would be assessed by line managers which would be provided internally, externally, online depending on what is required and what is available

3. As and when needed and during annual appraisals.

4. Microsoft SQL Server
    Microsoft Access     
    Dashboards and data visualisation
    Microsoft Excel
    Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)

Primate Licensing 2020

Response provided in Word format, available upon request

1. The most recent stock list of Ilfracombe Aquarium (located at The Quay, Ilfracombe EX34 9EQ)

2. All inspection reports of Ilfracombe Aquarium for the past three years

3. Ilfracombe Aquarium's zoo licence

Information provided to the applicant in PDF and Excel format, where held, with personal data redacted throughout (available upon request)

1. The lead Occupational Therapist for the Council with their email address and telephone number

2. Any role as with a title resembling Assistive Technology OT with their email address and telephone number

3. The office responsible as the "Falls or Prevention lead" with their email address and telephone number

1. The Council currently uses Workout Solutions for counselling services:

Workout Enterprises Ltd (with company number 02241920) (trading as Workout Solutions)
33 Falmouth Grove
Swindon
SN3 1EL
Email: info@workoutsolutions.co.uk
Phone: 01793 542532

They assign different counsellors to each referral so we are unable to provide you with specific information regarding individual employees

For medical Occupational Health referrals the Council uses Split Dimensions:

Split Dimension Ltd
14 The Plain
Thornbury
South Gloucestershire
BS35 2BD
01454 852715
Mob 07771 596111
Fax 01454 740045
Email: lindsey.hall@splitdimension.co.uk (as published on their website)

2.The Council does not hold any such role with this the title of or resembling ‘Assistive Technology OT’

3.The Council is unsure what is meant by "Falls or Prevention lead”. However, if you are seeking to know which officer within the Council is responsible for Health & Safety that would cover falls and prevention of falls:

Pam Charles, Health & Safety Advisor
Human Resources
North Devon Council
pam.charles@northdevon.gov.uk
01271 388430

CON29 information relating to a property in EX31 3AN

Applicant provided with the information, where held and also directed to the Council’s website for some of the information

CON29 information relating to a property in EX34 9SD

Applicant provided with the information, where held and also directed to the Council’s website for some of the information

Motor Vehicles registered for public hire ie Taxi/Private Hire/Hackney Carriage that were either issued a new or renewal licence in the period 1st January 2020 to 31st May 2020, providing the following for each:

Vehicle registration number
Manufacturer (Make)
Model
Licence issue date
Licence expiry date

Information provided to the applicant in Excel, which is available upon request

1. Please confirm the Council’s current supplier for Gas and Electricity

2. When do the current contracts expire for each?

3. If looking to save costs on these, who is responsible for the project?

4. How many sites is this person responsible for?

1.This contract information is published on the Council’s Contract Register:
https://procontract.due-north.com/ContractsRegister/ViewContractDetails?contractId=2697856d-30fc-e711-80ea-005056b64545&p=696a9836-1895-e511-8105-000c29c9ba21

2. Please refer to the link above for the expiry date of this contract

3. Please refer to the link above for the expiry date of this contract

4. Currently 62, however the number changes slightly as and when the Council leases property

2017/18

(a) plastics (mixed total) 644.158
(b) glass (mixed total) 2673.586
(c) paper 1994.538
(d) card 1393.470

2018/19
(a) plastics (mixed total) 885.887
(b) glass (mixed total) 2499.53
(c) paper 1708.926
(d) card 1586.560

2019/20

(a) plastics (mixed total) 1051.570
(b) glass (mixed total) 2848.620
(c) paper 1786.080
(d) card 1811.920

The above types of recycling are still being sent for recycling, no changes have been made to the service as a result of COVID-19

1. Does the council use bailiffs when it comes to council tax debt collection?

2. How much has the council spent on bailiffs each year for the last 5 financial years?

3. How much money has been accrued by the council via the use of bailiffs each year for the last 5 financial years?

1. Yes

2. There has been no spend as there are no direct costs to the Council. All bailiff fees are collected directly from the debtor by the bailiff

3. We are understanding this to mean where the Council has recovered Council Tax debt via the use of bailiffs. Unfortunately this information is not recorded centrally in a spreadsheet nor can it be easily extracted by way of a system report and so the only way in which this information could be gathered would require an officer in Council Tax to manually go through each of the accounts for approximately 46,000 properties in North Devon, with many having more than one account attached for the last five years

The Council Tax team has confirmed that just based on the properties, they would only be able to check an average of 20 properties per hour, and so that this exercise would far exceed the 18 hour cost limit under Section 12 of the Act. Unfortunately there would be no other way in which this information could be provided and therefore in accordance with Section 12 of the Act, the Council refused this part of the request

A full list of businesses and charities that have become liable for business rates due to recently taking over a new business premises between the 16th April 2020 to the 20th June 2020, including:

* Full business name and liable party
* Full address and postcode
* Date of liability
* Property type

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 Non Domestic Rates. 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 in January and April 2020:
http://www.northdevon.gov.uk/open-data/?ID=7ED2F924-B000-4771-B16B-181DB316F4E1&DS=4005

Applicant advised that the next update is due, in accordance with Section 22 of Act, in July 2020

Applicant provided with a list of the identified premises with addresses and postcodes:

Chulmleigh Tandoori, Cooper House, Fore Street, Chulmleigh, Devon, EX18 7BR

Royal Asia, North Street, Braunton, Devon, EX33 1AJ

Moghul Brasserie, 57 Vicarage Street,
Barnstaple, Devon, EX32 7BT

The Ganges Restaurant, 87 Newport Road, Barnstaple, Devon, EX32 9BE

Tandoori Nights, 13-14 High Street, Ilfracombe, Devon, EX34 9DF

The telephone numbers and email addresses were withheld from disclosure as these were provided to the Council, solely for the processing of their Food Registration applications and for use whilst they registered with the authority; the Council does not have the consent to make these details publicly available. Applicant advised to use an internet search engine for find the published contact information

Applicant directed to the Council’s dataset that provides the requested information, where held on a monthly basis:

https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/open-data/?ID=6D869870-EF56-455D-8985-3B36CA7B9D34&DS=4005

The dataset will be due for updating end of July 2020