Request
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act.
The request relates to the government’s current proposed changes to NHS commissioning structures, particularly money spent preparing for and related to the transition.
Where information is held but already published elsewhere it would be appreciated if you could direct me to it as quickly as possible.
Please provide where held:
1. SHA spending between April 2010 and May 2011 on:
a) Voluntary or compulsory staff redundancies
b) The national Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (http://www.nhsemployers.org/PayAndContracts/Mutually-Agreed-Resignation-Scheme/Pages/MutuallyAgreedResignationScheme.aspx)
Please include brief details including total sum paid and number of staff affected and, if held, the combined total salary of the staff affected.
2. Any planned SHA spending between May 2011 and July 2012 on:
a) Voluntary or compulsory staff redundancies
b) The national Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme.
Please include brief details including total sum expected to be paid and number of staff expected to be affected and, if held, the combined total salary of the staff affected.
3. Information held about payments by the SHA to GPs or GP Practice staff for and related to attendance at meetings and other events arranged because of the planned changes to commissioning between July 2010 and May 2011. These payments may be referred to in various ways as: attendance fees, backfill feels, reimbursement, locum costs, board fees, clinical leadership, practice incentives, preparation time and travel time. Please include in the format held but ideally including sums and brief descriptions of the purpose of payments.
4. Information on any identifiable spending by the SHA on the proposed changes in relation to commissioning, or to prepare the SHA, its staff, or the NHS in the region for the changes. Please include information relating to spending between July 2010 and May 2011. By commissioning changes I mean the changes involving transferring commissioning responsibilities from SHAs and primary care trusts to an independent NHS Commissioning Board and commissioning consortia. Please only include information held on relevant items of spending which are known to senior staff managing the transition. This means the request does not require an extensive search. Exclude spending which, while it may be related to the transition, is indistinguishable from other routine spending.
As examples of the items and format which may be included, but which the request is not limited to, include:
a) Budget items/lines designated for purposes related to the transition – please include the sum, period of time the money was spent, and description of item/line.
b) Staff employed newly and primarily to oversee the commissioning change – please include title, cost, brief description of role.
c) Other direct spending by an SHA or SHA agency related to the change, for example: On developing guidance for emerging consortia; on leadership and training for emerging consortia or GPs who may be involved in commissioning; on organisational development for emerging consortia; on events specifically related to the changes; on funding transitional groups or structures related to the changes; and on SHA disestablishment costs.
d) Direct SHA spending on reimbursing staff, local GPs, or others for their time and / or expenses for participating in preparation or development for the changes. Please include sums, the description of the spending, and the rate of reimbursement.
e) Contracts newly awarded during this period to external contractors related to the change, for example for the purposes listed in point c).
5. Information on any identifiable planned spending by the SHA to start making the changes in relation to commissioning, or to prepare the SHA, its staff, or the NHS in the region for the proposed changes. Please include information relating to spending planned for the period between April 2011 and July 2012. By commissioning changes I mean the changes involving transferring commissioning responsibilities from SHAs and primary care trusts to an independent NHS Commissioning Board and commissioning consortia. Please only include information held on relevant items of spending which are known to senior staff managing the transition. This means the request does not require an extensive search. Exclude spending which, while it may be related to the transition, is indistinguishable from other routine spending. Please specify whether the spending is planned to be funded from the £2 per head of population management allowance for emerging consortia, specified in the 2011-12 Operating Framework to come from PCT allocations.
The request covers but is not limited to the same categories included in item 1.
I look forward to receiving a response within 20 working days of 31 May as required by the Act. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact me using the details below.
Our Response
I refer to your email requesting information in respect of the government’s current proposed changes to NHS commissioning structures and money spent preparing for and related to the transition.
I can confirm in accordance with S.1 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) that we do not hold all of the information that you have requested.
However, I will address each of your questions in turn:-
1. SHA spending between April 2010 and May 2011 on:
a) Voluntary or compulsory staff redundancies
b) The national Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (http://www.nhsemployers.org/PayAndContracts/Mutually-Agreed-Resignation-Scheme/Pages/MutuallyAgreedResignationScheme.aspx)
Please include brief details including total sum paid and number of staff affected and, if held, the combined total salary of the staff affected.
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This information will be available via our Annual Report (2010-2011) which will be published and available via our website in due course. As such, we are of the opinion that section 22 (information intended for publication at a alter sate) of the FOIA is engaged in this instance. Section 22 is a qualified exemption, and we are required to assess as objectively as possible whether the balance of public interest favours disclosing or withholding the information. Although, in general, there is a public interest in information about redundancy costs being made as freely available as possible, we also recognise a strong public interest in this type of information appearing in published form, and in the most organised and comprehensible manner possible. We therefore intend to publish this information in its final form whilst , ensuring it is accurate and published in a consistent and comprehensive format. We have therefore determined that the balance of public interest favours withholding the information pending publication.
2. Any planned SHA spending between May 2011 and July 2012 on:
a) Voluntary or compulsory staff redundancies
b) The national Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme.
Please include brief details including total sum expected to be paid and number of staff expected to be affected and, if held, the combined total salary of the staff affected.
3. Information held about payments by the SHA to GPs or GP Practice staff for and related to attendance at meetings and other events arranged because of the planned changes to commissioning between July 2010 and May 2011. These payments may be referred to in various ways as: attendance fees, backfill feels, reimbursement, locum costs, board fees, clinical leadership, practice incentives, preparation time and travel time. Please include in the format held but ideally including sums and brief descriptions of the purpose of payments.
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We estimate that to collate all the information that you have requested in terms of this question would exceed the appropriate limit as set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. The limit set down by the regulations for public authorities is £450, which amounts to a maximum of 18 hours of search and retrieval time charged at £25.00 per hour, the hourly rate also specified in the regulations. Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the SHA is therefore not obliged to provide this information to you.
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If you are able to refine your request for a more narrow category of information, it might be that we could comply with that request within the appropriate limit, although I cannot guarantee that this would be the case as we feel that much of the information requested is also subject to exemption from release at this point in time, under Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act (as outlined below in our response to question 4).
4. Information on any identifiable spending by the SHA on the proposed changes in relation to commissioning, or to prepare the SHA, its staff, or the NHS in the region for the changes. Please include information relating to spending between July 2010 and May 2011. By commissioning changes I mean the changes involving transferring commissioning responsibilities from SHAs and primary care trusts to an independent NHS Commissioning Board and commissioning consortia. Please only include information held on relevant items of spending which are known to senior staff managing the transition. This means the request does not require an extensive search. Exclude spending which, while it may be related to the transition, is indistinguishable from other routine spending.
As examples of the items and format which may be included, but which the request is not limited to, include:
a) Budget items/lines designated for purposes related to the transition – please include the sum, period of time the money was spent, and description of item/line.
b) Staff employed newly and primarily to oversee the commissioning change – please include title, cost, brief description of role.
c) Other direct spending by an SHA or SHA agency related to the change, for example: On developing guidance for emerging consortia; on leadership and training for emerging consortia or GPs who may be involved in commissioning; on organisational development for emerging consortia; on events specifically related to the changes; on funding transitional groups or structures related to the changes; and on SHA disestablishment costs.
d) Direct SHA spending on reimbursing staff, local GPs, or others for their time and / or expenses for participating in preparation or development for the changes. Please include sums, the description of the spending, and the rate of reimbursement.
e) Contracts newly awarded during this period to external contractors related to the change, for example for the purposes listed in point c).
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NHS East Midlands has undertaken some staff support to prepare staff for the proposed organisational changes for SHAs which has been provided within existing resources to date. An additional programme of staff support is planned but this programme is currently subject to a competitive tender process and therefore the organisation is of the view that it would be inappropriate to release this information at this time.Negotiations with the contractor regarding changes to the contract are on-going and have not yet concluded.
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We are therefore of the opinion that Section 43(2) of the FOIA is engaged in this instance. This exemption protects from disclosure information that would, or would be likely, to prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it). We consider that while negotiations relating to the contract are on-going, there is potential that release of the requested information could prejudice the commercial interests of one or other of the parties to these negotiations.
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Section 43 is a qualified exemption meaning that we are required to apply the public interest test. We have therefore considered the public interest in releasing this information and we are of the opinion that the balance is in favour of withholding this information at this time so that the integrity of the current negotiations can be maintained and the commercial interests of the NHS protected.
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We have also estimated that to collate all the information that you have requested would exceed the appropriate limit as set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. The limit set down by the regulations for public authorities is £450, which amounts to a maximum of 18 hours of search and retrieval time charged at £25.00 per hour, the hourly rate also specified in the regulations. Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the SHA is therefore not obliged to provide this information to you. .
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If you are able to refine your request for a more narrow category of information, it might be that we could comply with that request within the appropriate limit, although I cannot guarantee that this would be the case as we feel that much of the information requested is also subject to exemption from release at this point in time, under Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act (see bullet point 2 above).
6. Information on any identifiable planned spending by the SHA to start making the changes in relation to commissioning, or to prepare the SHA, its staff, or the NHS in the region for the proposed changes. Please include information relating to spending planned for the period between April 2011 and July 2012. By commissioning changes I mean the changes involving transferring commissioning responsibilities from SHAs and primary care trusts to an independent NHS Commissioning Board and commissioning consortia. Please only include information held on relevant items of spending which are known to senior staff managing the transition. This means the request does not require an extensive search. Exclude spending which, while it may be related to the transition, is indistinguishable from other routine spending. Please specify whether the spending is planned to be funded from the £2 per head of population management allowance for emerging consortia, specified in the 2011-12 Operating Framework to come from PCT allocations.
The request covers but is not limited to the same categories included in item 1.
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Please see our response in terms of your first question which we feel is also appropriate in terms of this question. We have also estimated that to collate all the information that you have requested in terms of this question would exceed the appropriate limit as set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. The limit set down by the regulations for public authorities is £450, which amounts to a maximum of 18 hours of search and retrieval time charged at £25.00 per hour, the hourly rate also specified in the regulations. Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the SHA is therefore not obliged to provide this information to you.
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If you are able to refine your request for a more narrow category of information, it might be that we could comply with that request within the appropriate limit, although I cannot guarantee that this would be the case as we feel that much of the information requested is also subject to exemption from release at this point in time, under Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act (as outlined in our response to question 4).
I hope that this information is of use. If you are dissatisfied with the way in which we have dealt with your request you can ask us to review our decision by writing to:-
Mr Moosa Patel
Director of Corporate Affairs
NHS East Midlands
Octavia House
Interchange Business Park
Bostock's Lane
Sandiacre
Nottingham
NG10 5QG
If at the conclusion of any review you remain dissatisfied you may complain to the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at:-
The Office of the Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
