PinocchiJo the Puppet finally Responds

Here's the two month delayed FOIA response from Jo Young.

Learning Disabilities Services
Old Wood Carvers Cottage
Surrey & Borders NHS Trust

Email: Jo.Young@sabp.nhs.uk

Provided on behalf of Chief Executive Geppetto Edwards

29th November 2006


I apologise for the delay in replying to your Freedom of Information Act request detailed below, and agree that the correct procedures have not been followed in handling this, however I am now able to give our formal response:

FOI Question

How many service users is the Trust currently paying the minimum wage or above to for manual work? I'm assuming this figure would have been made available during the "comprehensive review " of work services. If this information is not available because that review was not as comprehensive as the Trust claimed it was , please say so and address and answer this question as a FOIA request elsewhere.


Response

We do not hold contemporaneous information on the health status of our employees:

• Our information is limited to the declaration that people make on their disability status when they join the Trust or are appointed to a new post through the Trust’s recruitment process. This information would only indicate that a person considers themselves disabled – it would not include information on the nature of the disability, which would be held by our Occupational Health department.

• We do not classify jobs as ‘manual’ or ‘non-manual’.

• All Trust employees are paid above the national minimum wage. We apply the standard NHS pay structure, where the minimum hourly rate is approximately £6.00 per hour (£11,782 per annum for a standard 37.5 hour week).



In the circumstances we do not hold the information that you require in a published form and it would be a disproportionate effort to collate the information.



The Freedom Of Information Act 2000 states:

"Section 12 (1) Section 1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit."



If I can be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.



If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your enquiry, you have the right to appeal and in the first instance this should be to the Head of Healthcare Systems, Surrey & Borders Partnership NHS Trust, Elaine Gould on 01737 281046 or email elaine.gould@sabp.nhs.uk





If you are still not satisfied with the outcome, you can write to:



The Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House,Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545700

Yours sincerely,

Jo Young
Jo Young
Director of Services for People with Learning Disabilities


c.c. Elaine Gould, Head of Healthcare Systems