Disclosure Log - September 2021

1. The number of licensed dog breeders in your local authority during the following periods 

a. 1 January 2019 – 31 December 2019

b. 1 January 2020 – 31 December 2020 

Additionally, please provide a breakdown as follows: 

2. The number of breeding licenses issued in both 2019 and 2020 to licence holders who have bred one or two litters 

3. The number of breeding licences issued in both 2019 and 2020 to holders who have bred three or more litters 

4. The total number of breeding bitches present at licensed premises in your local authority 

5. The number of licences issued to those selling kittens as pets in the course of a business during the following periods: 

a. 1 January 2019 – 31 December 2019

b. 1 January 2020 – 31 December 2020

1.

a) 01.01.19 – 31.12.19 = 11

b) 01.01.20 – 31.12.20 = 13

2. The Licensing team does not hold a definitive answer to this part of the request, however they estimate this to be three. Please note these three premises are licensed for three breeding bitches each, therefore it is possible that they bred one or two litter during this time

3. The Licensing team does not hold a definitive answer to this part of the request, however they estimate this to be 10. Please note these 10 premises are licensed for between six and 40 breeding bitches each, therefore it is possible that they bred three or more litters during this time period

4. The Licensing team does not hold a definitive answer to this part of the request, however they estimate this to be approximately 172

5. a) 01.01.19 – 31.12.19 = 0

1. What has the council spent in each of the last 4 years to March 2021 on external street and park litter bins?

2. Going forward how is the budget expected to change and by how much?

3. Who have been the top 5 suppliers of litter bins in each of these years?

a) What Model of litter bin was purchased from each company?

b) How much did the council spend with each?

4. Has the council followed a tender process? If so, can you provide details including when any existing contracts come to an end.

5. If the council does not follow a tender process, how does the council select its supplier?

6. Does the council have a policy for renewals of litter bins? If so, please can I have a description

1. Parks and Leisure

    2017 = £1,038

    2018 = £5,249

    2019 = £5,412

    2020 = £510

    2021 to date = £1,217

   External Street

    2017/18 = £13,956

    2018/19 = £3,037

    2019/20 = £5,351

    2020/21 = £9,943 

2. Parks and Leisure = £8,430 in the current   financial year for the purchase of seats/bins and fencing

External Street = This is currently under review

3. Parks and Leisure = Two suppliers: Glasdon and Broxap

a)    Jubilee bins from Glasdon and derby recycling bin and Synergy recycling bin from Broxap

b)    £12,490 with Glasdon, £936 with Broxap

External Street = One supplier: Wybone

a) External Street = 112 litre galvanised, 90 litre galvanised, compass bin, 224 litre eco bin

b) Please refer to the figures above

4. No for both departments

5. Parks and Leisure = Items are purchased on an ad-hoc basis as the spend falls below the threshold for formal procurement

External Street = Three quotes each time

6. Parks and Leisure = We do not have a policy for the renewal of litter bins, they are replaced as and when needed/or when funding is available

External Street = No policy is held

1. What ERP (Enterprise Resource Management) or Finance system is currently used at the council?

2. When does your contract expire?

3. Do you have any planned upgrades of the software? If so, when?

4. Are you planning to go to market for a different ERP/ Finance system? If so, when?

5. How many users / licenses of the system do you have at the council?

1. Civica Financials

2. 29 September 2022

3. No, however we undertake upgrades for different versions this software

4. We will look to a framework when this contract is up for renewal

5. Site licence, all our users could have access, if required

6. Contact: accounts@northdevon.gov.uk

In relation to Building Control application B30574

• All structural drawings, calculations and specifications held for Plot 2 and shared areas of the site
• Specific items the applicant requests are included are the masonry/concrete retaining wall directly behind the house, the smaller timber retaining wall in the rear garden, the house foundations, the timber frame details of the house itself and any below ground drainage

Information was full withheld from disclosure as it is considered to be personal information and also adversely affect the confidentially of commercial/industrial information where such confidentiality is provided by law to protect a legitimate economic interest

Please provide the following information for 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21:

• The value of grants made to each of the organisations listed below. Please provide the information for each of the three financial years separately, and list all grants separately 

• The value of loans made to each of the organisations listed below. Please provide the information for each of the three financial years separately, and list all loans separately 

The payments made to charities and third sector organisations relate to the following only: 

• Operation Black Vote

• UK. Black Pride

• Mermaids

• Ozanne Foundation

• Gendered Intelligence

• British Medical Association

• ActionAid UK

• Hope Not Hate

• Led by Donkeys

• Extinction Rebellion

• Migrants Organise

• CLASS

• Black Lives Matter

• Action on Smoking and Health

• Action on Smoking and Health Scotland

• Action on Smoking and Health Wales

• Breath 2025

• Association of Directors of Public Health

• Improving Performance in Practice (previously Public Management Associates)

The Council has not made any payments to the organisations listed in the request

Can you also supply me with a copy of: 

Managing email

Do you have any policies or guidelines that encourage your employees to delete emails (for example, declutter your Outlook mailbox guidance) and manage their mailbox efficiently (please supply)? 

Managing paper and electronic files

Do you have any policies or procedures which encourage your employees to destroy paper files and electronic records outside retention periods (please supply)? 

Please send details of any projects or initiatives (for example, an Electronic Tidy-Up Day ) within your Organisation to reduce electronic file storage and data duplication of your files shares to comply with the GDPR and delete data that is no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which it was collected 

Please list any software products used in your Organisation to remove redundant, obsolete or duplicate data or create automatic policies to clean your data or separate your important data for reporting, deleting, archiving 

Staff awareness

Please send me a copy of any email bulletins or intranet news and/or notices which encourage employees to manage paper and electronic records correctly within your Organisation? 

Adhere to retention schedules and destroy records at the correct time (meet legal requirements)?

Applicant provided with a copy of the Council’s Document Retention and Disposal Policy and also referred policy and also the Council’s website: https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/council/data-protection-and-freedom-of-information/privacy-and-data-protection/data-retention/  

The Council also provides guidance to staff around controlling their address books and also has an email an internet acceptable usage policy (which was also provided, but which is currently being reviewed)

 The Council does not currently have any specific projects or initiatives to encourage the deletion of information 

The Council does not have any specific software that removes redundant, obsolete or duplicate data from the systems used throughout the Council, however there are some systems used which have specific modules on their case management systems which delete information within set parameters; these for part of wider contracts for software and is something that the Council ensures that are included

With regard to staff awareness, this forms part of wider guidance issued to staff on data protection issues. Staff are normally referred to the Council’s internal intranet as and when required and data retention issues are addressed in presentations delivered to new starters and those employees who require refresher training. There have been no specific bulletins about data retention being sent to employees, however the applicant was provided with a copy of the Council’s GDPR training slides where slide 19 covers data retention

An electronic copy of any Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA’s) undertaken for the operation of Drones, Dash Cams, or Body-Worn Cameras within your Organisation

The Council does not use drones or body-worn cameras, therefore the Council does not have any DPIAs for these

With regards to dash cams, the Council provided the applicant with a copy of the a draft DPIA (which is available upon request) which is subject to a consultation, however it considered that is disclosable as dash cams are currently in use on a limited scale

Applicant advised that dash cams are being rolled out with the Council’s new fleet of vehicles with its new leased vehicle contractor which are on order to start, 1 October 2021 by which the DPIA will be concluded

1. When did your council declare a climate emergency (CM)?

2. What projects/policies have been developed by the council to tackle the CM?

3. What projects/policies has the council produced since declaring a CM which could increase carbon emissions?

4. By which date do you intend for all of your operations to be producing net zero emissions?

5. What funds have been provided by central government to help you get to net zero?

6. What penalties, if any, could the Council face if it did not meet its own target for getting to net zero?

1. July 2019

2. Our Environment Policy was approved by committee, December 202 which is the Council's central policy in relation to the climate emergency

3. The Council does not calculate the carbon impact of its projects and polices, therefore it does not hold data required to calculate whether they would increase or decrease carbon emissions

4. 2030

5. To date, central government has not provided North Devon Council with any direct funding

6. None at present

1:

a) A list of the names and locations of all vacant commercial buildings owned, part-owned or leased by the council

b) Details about how long each of (1a) has been empty

c) Details, broken down by financial year, of how much money has been spent on security for each of (1a) in the past 6 years

d) Details, broken down by financial year, of all other costs to the council associated with (1a) in the past 6 years

1. a) and b) were provided in table format to applicant, which is available upon request

c) This information is not held

d) This information is not held

1. The number of staff employed by the Council who currently hold role under the proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (such as Financial Intelligence Officers (FIOs) and Accredited Financial Investigators (AFIs)

From this figure:

2 .How many are FIOs and how many are AFIs?

1. Zero
2. N/A

I am further advised by our Finance team that whilst we do not hold any specific roles, this would fall within the role of the Council’s Section 151 Officer

The Benefit Investigation Officers that were previously employed by the authority now sit under the remit of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

How much the council has spent on Covid marshals (known as Place Makers) as of 22 August 2021?

How many Covid marshals (Place Makers) the council has hired too as of 22 August 2021?

£3,278.25 plus VAT

1. Have you declared a climate emergency? Y/N 

2. a)  Do you have an action plan or strategy (or equivalent) related to net zero goals? Y/N 

b) If yes, is ‘Spatial Planning’ featured within the action plan/strategy? Y/N 

3. a) Does your ‘Local Plan’ reflect net zero targets? Y/N 

b) if yes to what year? 

c) If no, does your ‘Local Plan Review’ plan to include net zero? Y/N 

4. a) Do you have an in-house sustainability (or equivalent) officer/s supporting local planning policy, if yes, the number of officers? 

b) Who is the key contact at your council? 

5. a) What tools do your planners use to support climate planning policy and delivery in your authority? 

b) Do your planning officers receive climate literacy training or equivalent? Y/N 

c) Do you use climate change mitigation as a material consideration in balancing planning applications? Y/N

1. Yes
2. A) No B) N/A
3. A) No B) N/A  C) Unable to answer at this time as the review has yet to commence
4. A) One 0.5 FTE Climate Officer, however they are not primarily supporting local planning Policy
5. B) Mark Kentell, Head of Environmental Enhancement
6. A) Unable to answer at this time as the review has yet to commence

           B) No

          C) Only in relation to flood risk

Information fully refused, the Council considers this to be personal data and therefore falls under the remit of Regulation 13

Year   Cremations (excluding NVF)

2015   1537

2016   1573

2017   1599

2018   1620

2019   1530

2020   1608

2021*  1012

Year   Burials (excluding ashes)

2015   70

2016   50

2017   67

2018   49

2019   56

2020   38

2021*  23

*Data up to and including 31 August 2021 provided as it was available at time of response

From 1 January 2021 to date the Council has issued Two FPNs under the dogs PSPO and Zero under the ASB PSPO.  One of the FPNs was issued for an offence in Rock Park, Barnstaple and the other for an offence in South Street, South Molton

a) How many independent (fee-paying) schools there are in your area which are also charities (and therefore qualify for mandatory business-rates tax relief)?

b) The amount of business rates these same schools paid collectively in financial year 2019/20?

a) One, receiving 80% Mandatory Rate Relief

b) £43,392.00 paid in 2019/20

1. In the past three years has your organisation:

a. Had any ransomware incidents? (An incident where an attacker attempted to, or successfully, encrypted a computing device within your organisation with the aim of extorting a payment or action in order to decrypt the device?

i. If yes, how many?

b. Had any data rendered permanently inaccessible by a ransomware incident (i e some data was not able to be restored from back up)

c.        Had any data rendered permanently inaccessible by a systems or equipment failure (ie. some data was not able to be restored from back up.)

d. Paid a ransom due to a ransomware incident / to obtain a decryption key or tool?

i. If yes was the decryption successful, with all files recovered?

e. Used a free decryption key or tool (e g from https://www.nomoreransom.org/)?

i. If yes was the decryption successful, with all files recovered?

f. Had a formal policy on ransomware payment?

i. If yes please provide, or link, to all versions relevant to the 3 year period

g. Held meetings where policy on paying ransomware was discussed?

h. Paid consultancy fees for malware, ransomware, or system intrusion investigation

i. If yes at what cost in each year?

i. Used existing support contracts for malware, ransomware, or system intrusion investigation?

j. Requested central government support for malware, ransomware, or system intrusion investigation?

k. Paid for data recovery services?

i. If yes at what cost in each year?

l. Used existing contracts for data recovery services?

m. Replaced IT infrastructure such as servers that have been compromised by malware?

i. If yes at what cost in each year?

n. Replaced IT endpoints such as PCs, Laptops, Mobile devices that have been compromised by malware?

i. If yes at what cost in each year?

o. Lost data due to portable electronic devices being mislaid, lost or destroyed?

i. If yes how many incidents in each year?

2. Does your organisation use a cloud based office suite system such as Google Workspace (Formerly G Suite) or Microsoft’s Office 365?

a. If yes is this system’s data independently backed up, separately from that platform’s own tools?

3. Is an offsite data back-up a system in place for the following? (Offsite backup is the replication of the data to a server which is separated geographically from the system’s normal operating location site)

a. Mobile devices such as phones and tablet computers

b. Desktop and laptop computers

c. Virtual desktops

d. Servers on premise

e. Co-located or hosted servers

f. Cloud hosted servers

g. Virtual machines

h. Data in SaaS applications SOME

i. ERP / finance system

j. We do not use any offsite back-up systems

4. Are the services in question 3 backed up by a single system or are multiple systems used?

5. Do you have a cloud migration strategy? If so is there specific budget allocated to this?

6. How many Software as a Services (SaaS) applications are in place within your organisation?

a. How many have been adopted since January 2020?

1.

a. No

a i. N/A

b. No

c. No

d. No d i) N/A

e. No e i) N/A

f. No f i) N/A

g. Yes

h. No h i) N/A

i. No

j. No

k. No k i) N/A

l. No

m. No m i) N/A

n. No n i) N/A

o. No o i) N/A

2. YES

3. a) No

    b) No

    c) Yes

    d) Yes   

    e) No

    f) No

    g) Yes

     h) Some

     i) Yes

     j) No, We do have offsite backup

4. Single system

5. No

6. Approximately Five

6. a. One

CON29 information relating to a property at EX34 8NF

Applicant advised that no information is held

CON29 information relating to a property at EX31 3UE

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

1. How many bulky waste items were collected in your authority in during the following timescales: 

1.    May 2020 – April 2021

2.    May 2019 – April 2020 

1.a) How many of the items collected were sent to landfill during the following timescales: 

1.    May 2020 – April 2021

2.    May 2019 – April 2020 

1.b) How many of the items collected were recycled during the following timescales: 

1.    May 2020 – April 2021

2.    May 2019 – April 2020 

1.c) How many of the items collected were eligible for reuse during the following timescales: 

1.    May 2020 – April 2021

2.    May 2019 – April 2020 

2. If recorded, what was the breakdown of numbers of items collected? Please specify for both May 2020 - April 2021 

1) DIY waste

2) Electrical and electronic

3) Furniture

4) Garden items

5)  Household Appliances

6) Soft furnishings

7)  General household items

8) Other 

If recorded, what was the breakdown of numbers of items collected? Please specify for both May 2019 - April 2020: 

1) DIY waste

2) Electrical and electronic

3)  Furniture

4) Garden items

5)  Household Appliances

6) Soft furnishings

7) General household items

8) Other 

3. What is your local authority's approach to recycling versus reusing bulky waste items?

1. 1) 4,214 2) 3,122

1.a)  1) 2,237  2) 2,410

1.b)  1) 1,977  2) 712

1.c)  1 and 2) Not recorded information

2. Electrical - 1,134

    Furniture - 2,228

    No other categories recorded

    Electrical - 712

    Furniture - 1,468

    No other categories recorded

3. The Council does not operate any re-sue shops. Many items are taken to the Local Civic Amenity site which are sent for recycling (e g washing machines/fridges)

CON29 information relating to a property at EX31 4AN

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 at EX36 3QF

Applicant advised that no information is held

CON29 information relating to a property at EX34 7DJ

Applicant advised that no information is held

2018, 2019, 2020, 2021. For 2021 can I please have the information for the period from 1 January to 31 August:

1. How many dogs entered pounds (also known as kennels or animal shelters) in your area?

2. How many of these dogs were euthanised?

3. For each dog that was euthanised, can you provide the reason?

And if possible within the cost threshold, can you also provide the following information for each of these calendar years:

4. How many were reclaimed by their owners?

5. How many were passed to a welfare organisation?
6. How many were rehomed?

1. 2018 = 34

    2019 = 29

    2020 = 17

    2021 = 11

2. Zero for each of the requested years

3. N/A for each of the requested years

4. 2018 = 116

    2019 = 120

    2020 = 73

    2021 = 49

5. 2018 = 5

    2019 = 4

    2020 = 1

    2021 = 1

6. 2018 = 0

    2019 = 1

    2020 = 2

    2021 = 1

CON29 information relating to a property at EX33 2JS

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

1. The current size of your fleet split by car, van and truck

2. Do you contract out your waste collection services?

3. If you do contract out your waste collection services, who to?

4. Do you use a framework (such as CCS) for your tyre supply?

5. If you do you use a framework for your tyre supply, which one?

6. Do you currently have a tyre management agreement?

1. Car = One

           Van = 25

           Truck = 55

2. No, delivered in-house
3. N/A
4. No
5. N/A
6. Yes
7. 01.10.21 once the workshop is outsourced

CON29 information relating to a property at EX33 1JF

1. Do you currently operate commercial or residential waste collection services: (1) directly / in-house, (2) via a waste contractor, (3) or through a joint-partnership with another authority? 

a) If via a contractor, please can you provide their name? Similarly, if in partnership with another authority, please name 

2. Could you please provide a breakdown of the number of large (I e a bin with capacity greater than 500 litres) recycling and general waste bins that you own, or fall under the remit of your authority? 

a) Can you provide details of how many of these bins are metal vs plastic?

b) Are these bins purchased outright by the authority, or leased? 

3. If possible, can you provide any details of spending history on large (i e a capacity greater than 500 litres) recycling and general waste bins? (as many years as reasonably possible)

a) Can you provide details of which supplies this spend was with? 

4. Do you carry out any maintenance on your existing fleet of ‘large’ bins? Is this done in-house, or via a contractor? If via a contractor please name 

a) Is it possible to provide details of spend on maintenance on ‘large’ bins? 

5. Do you have any ‘Big belly’ solar compactor bins within your authority? If so, how many?

1. Yes, in house

2. The system used by Waste and recycling does not allow them to be able to gather this precise information, however they are able to confirm that they have 800 customers who have large bin sizes, on average five bins per customer

             a) All metal

             b) Purchased outright

3. a) Storm – 21/22 = £16.5K

                           20/21 = £18K

                           19/20 = £16K

4. Contractor – UK Container Maintenance

4. a) 21/22 = £13.3K

              20/21 = £21K

              19/20 = £14K

5.       No

An excel spreadsheet of all current educational establishments (primary schools, secondary schools, sixth forms, colleges, universities, and private schools) in the local authority area, including contact email addresses for those educational establishments

Applicant advised that the Council publishes a quarterly dataset of all Non-Domestic Rate Properties on its website and this will include Educational establishments: https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/open-data/?ID=7ED2F924-B000-4771-B16B-181DB316F4E1&DS=4005, from this link, select the first dataset in the list ‘All NDR Properties Occupied and Empty at 06.07.21’ and you will be able to filter the dataset for premises under ‘school and premises’ and ‘college and premises’. It was confirmed that there are no universities in North Devon. There is no separate property description for private schools, they will also fall under the description ‘school and premises’

In an Excel spreadsheet, a full list of businesses, companies, charities that have become recently responsible for business rates within the Council area between to 1st-15th Sept 21 and including for each:

• the full business name and address
• the liable party
• the date of responsibility
• the type of property this relates to

Applicant directed to the Council’s website for this information, which is published in dataset format and is updated quarterly:

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

In each of the years 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21:

1. How much of your DFG allocation did you spend?

2. How many referrals did you receive for a DFG?

3. How many DFG grants were awarded?

4. How much discretionary funding was spent?

5. How many discretionary grants were awarded?

1. 2017-18 - £563,241.15

    2018-19 - £1,008,670.21

    2019-20 - £826,578.34

    2020-21 - £865,531.88 

2. 2017-18 - 130

    2018-19 - 157

    2019-20 - 196

    2020-21 - 195 

3. 2017-18 - 141

    2018-19 - 124

    2019-20 - 148

    2020-21 - 140 

4. 2017-18 - N/A*

    2018-19 - N/A*

    2019-20 - £128,712

    2020-21 - £388,832.65 

5. 2017-18 - 0*

    2018-19 - 0*

    2019-20 - Nine

    2020-21 - 85 

*NB - NDC policy was updated and approved in November 2019 confirming discretionary grant availability and conditions

1. Under the council's authority (either run directly by the council, or contracted to a third party on the council's behalf) how many of the following sites were open to the public in September 2010, and how many sites are open in September 2021?

• Leisure Centres
• Indoor or outdoor swimming pools/facilities
• Playing fields and 3G/4G pitches (for grassroots sports purposes – e g football, rugby)
• Running tracks
• Other grassroots sports facilities
• Children's play parks/playgrounds

2. How many, if any, of the above sites were closed because of the Coronavirus pandemic, and remain closed in September 2021? For any closed sites, are there plans to reopen?

3. What was the council's expenditure on the following sites in the 2010/11 financial year, and how does this differ to expenditure in the 2021/22 financial year? If possible, please break these figures down by the categories below

1. The Council had 22 play areas under its management in 2010 and 27 play areas in 2021

The Council had had five grass sports pitches under our management in 2010 and one grass sports pitch in 2021. Please note that 3 of the pitches are now leased to private sports clubs and one pitch is now an Artificial Grass Pitch

The Council managed one cricket pitch in 2010 which is now leased out too, and one pitch and putt which is no longer in operation

2. All play areas were closed during the first lockdown, but are now all open. The sports pitch is back in operation after restrictions were lifted

3. Including inspections and repairs the Council spent £45,077 on play areas in 2010. The Council now manages the play areas in-house and therefore the expenditure on repairs and maintenance only for 2021 is £17,110

The cost to maintain the five grass sports pitches, one cricket pitch and one pitch and putt course was £38,942 in 2010

The Council now manages the one grass pitch in-house in 2021 and the cost for this is approximately £2,000

Please advise the current number of staff you have employed on zero hours contract

The Council does not have any staff employed on zero hours contracts

1. Has confidential waste being procured via tender or framework or another means? 

2. If a framework, could you confirm the name of the framework please? 

3. Actual contract values of each framework/contract (and any sub lots) 

4. Start date and duration of contract 

5. Is there an extension clause in the framework(s)/contract(s) and, if so, the duration of the extension? 

6. Has a decision been made yet on whether the framework(s)/contract(s) are being either extended or renewed? 

7. Who is the procurement officer responsible for this contract and could you provide their email address and phone number please? 

8. Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for this contract and could you provide their email address and phone number please?  

9. Who is the current supplier?

10. If your current supplier is a Facilities Management/Waste/Cleaning Company, which sub-contractor services your organisation?

1. Quote only
2. Not applicable
3. £2400 per annum
4. 12 months from 1st April
5. Rolling contract
6. No
7. Not applicable
8. chay.mckenzie@northdevon.gov.uk 01271 388203
9. Restore datashred
10. Not applicable

15.09.21

In Excel format:

(a) List all non-domestic properties and their addresses

(b) The names of the Rate payers referred to above for each property (excluding all the personal information)

(c) The rateable value for each property

(d) The date the rate payer became liable for the bill

(e) Details of what reliefs, if any, the rate payer receives (Mandatory, Discretionary, Exempt, retail, small business)

Applicant advised that the Council publishes this information on its website, which is updated on a quarterly basis: https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/open-data/?ID=7ED2F924-B000-4771-B16B-181DB316F4E1&DS=4005  

17.09.21

1. Food – Service contract that is focused around catering services 

2. General waste services contracts – The organisation’s primary general waste service contract 

Contract profile questionnaire for each type of contract: 

1. Supplier/Provider of the services

2. Total Annual Spend – this should only relate to each of the service contracts listed above

3. A description of the services provided under this contract please includes information if other services are included under the same contract

4. The number of sites the contract covers

5. The start date of the contract

6. The end date of the contract

7. The duration of the contract, including any extensions

8. Who within the organisation is responsible for each of these contracts? Name, Job Title, contact number and email address

1. The council holds no contracts in relation to catering services

2.  This is provided in-house by the Council

27.09.21

The total number of people who are (knowingly to the council) overpaying on their council tax and the total monetary figure of these unclaimed amounts between January 2016 and January 2021

Please provide the information in the form of a spreadsheet or simple table categorised by the reason for overpayment – split by year between January 2016 and January 2021 and the total number of people plus the total monetary figure per category. The categorisations for the reasons for overpayment are listed:

• Overpayment due to Exemptions/Discounts
• Overpayment due to Band Changes
• Overpayment due to Leaving the Borough
• Overpayment due to Other Reasons

The following clarification was received from the applicant:

Any information the Council has regarding ratepayers in credit due to council tax/or the total value and number of refunds to ratepayers by year?

The Council’s Revenues team does not record where ratepayers who are (knowingly to the Council) overpaying their Council Tax 

Applicant provided clarification of their request to which the following response was provided: 

Council tax accounts in credit at 27.09.2021

Number: 713

Total Amount £123,242.57 

This is all council tax accounts in credit for any reason and includes accounts that are currently going through our refund process 

The team are unable to break the figures down by reason for the credit as our system report does not provide this data.  To do this would be a manual process to look up each account and cross reference to any correspondence to determine the reason the account is in credit. The data would then need to be collated by reason. It is estimated that this would take at least five minutes per account 

Section 12 of the Act makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for Local Authorities is set at £450 by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours at £25 per hour in determining whether the Council holds the information, locating, retrieving and collating the information 

It has been estimated by the Revenues team that it would take in excess of 59 hours to provide the requested information. The procedure would cause serious disruption to the day to day working of the Revenues team and therefore the Council is unable process this part of the request any further. As set out in the previous paragraph, the Council has the right to refuse to provide the information in accordance with Section 12 of the Act 

The total value and number of refunds per year are as follows: 

2016/2017 at 31.03.2017: 3,347 = £606,209.35

2017/2018 at 31.03.2018: 3,242 = £660,784.11

2018/2019 at 31.03.2019: 3,274 = £704,371.21

2019/2020 at 31.03.2020: 3,128 = £626,160.36

2020/2021 at 31.03.2021: 3,356 = £936,471.99 

Again as above this is for accounts in credit for any reason and the Revenues team is unable to break the figures down by reason for the credit

22.09.21

For the financial years 2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021, please provide:

1. The number of landlords prosecuted by the council

2. The number of complaints the council received about private rented properties

3. The number of civil penalty notices issued against a landlord or letting agent as well as the total annual sum of the fines

1. 2018/19 = Two

    2019/20 = Zero

    2020/21 = One

2. 2018/19 = 95

    2019/20 = 92

    2020/21 = 153

3. 2018/19 = Zero, therefore no fines issued

    2019/20 = Zero, therefore no fines issued

    2020/21 = Zero, therefore no fines issued

30.09.21

CON29 information relating to a property at EX31 3FZ

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

30.09.21

CON29 information relating to a property at EX16 8AA

Applicant advised that no information is held

23.09.21

1. Does the Council currently have deployed or plan to deploy in the next 6 months the Kubernetes container technology?

2. Does the Council currently have deployed or plan to deploy in the next 6 months the Docker or Docker SWARM technology platform?

3. Does the Council currently have deployed or plan to deploy in the next 6 months the Rancher technology platform?

4. Does the Council currently have deployed or plan to deploy in the next 6 months the IBM Open Shift technology platform?

5. Does the Council currently have deployed or plan to deploy in the next 6 months the VMware Tanzu technology platform?

1. No

2. No

3. No

4. No

5. No

24.09.21

Please provide information held by the Council in relation to admission to prison for Council Tax non-payment over the period starting on 1 January 2019 and ending on 1 September 2021, broken down by calendar year:

1. Against how many people were committal proceedings with regard to unpaid council tax commenced?

2. How many people were committed to prison for non-payment of council tax?

3. What was the overall total number of days served in prison by all of the people committed to prison for non-payment of council tax owed to the local authority?

1. Zero
2. Zero

3. N/A

27.09.21

• the date(s) of any empty periods

• the period(s) of any exemptions

from 1 November 2020 for:

Bawden Aggregates Ltd at Tree Beech, Gunn Goodleigh, Barnstaple Devon, EX32 7NZ

The property has been empty since 1 November 2020. There has been an empty property rates exemption for the period 01.11.20 to 30.04.21

28.09.21

A full list of businesses that have been newly responsible for business rates from 15-30th Sept 2021 and providing the following for each: 

Full business name

Address they are responsible for paying business rates at

Property type

Date the started paying for the rates

Applicant directed to the Council’s website for this information, which is published in dataset format and is updated quarterly:

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