Information to be published annually by SDC

There is Data that SDC must publish annually, so this piece will not be a short piece. What is this data

local authority land

 grants to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations

 organisation chart

 trade union facility time

 parking accounts

 parking spaces

 senior salaries

 constitution

 pay multiple

 fraud

The data and information must be published: on the first occasion, not later than 2 February 2015, and thereafter, not less than annually and not later than one month after the year to which the data and information is applicable. [In relation to parking account data, where the local authority’s annual accounts have not been finalised, the authority should publish estimates within one month after the year to which the data is applicable and subsequently publish final figures as soon as the authority’s accounts are finalised.]

SDC must publish details of all land and building assets including:

 all service and office properties occupied or controlled by user bodies, both freehold and leasehold

 any properties occupied or run under Private Finance Initiative contracts

 all other properties they own or use, for example, hostels, laboratories, investment properties and depots

 garages unless rented as part of a housing tenancy agreement

 surplus, sublet or vacant properties

 undeveloped land

SDC must publish the following information on trade union facility time:

 total number (absolute number and full time equivalent) of staff who are union representatives (including general, learning and health and safety representatives)

 total number (absolute number and full time equivalent) of union representatives who devote at least 50 per cent of their time to union duties

 names of all trade unions represented in the local authority

 a basic estimate of spending on unions (calculated as the number of full time equivalent days spent on union duties multiplied by the average salary), and

 a basic estimate of spending on unions as a percentage of the total pay bill (calculated as the number of full time equivalent days spent on union duties multiplied by the average salary divided by the total pay bill).

 serviced or temporary offices where contractual or actual occupation exceeds three months, and

 all future commitments, for example under an agreement for lease, from when the contractual commitment is made.

Parking account

SDC must publish on their website, or place a link on their website to this data if published elsewhere:

 a breakdown of income and expenditure on the authority’s parking account. [

A parking account kept under section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as modified by Regulation 25 of the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2007. SDC  should also have regard to both statutory guidance, The Secretary of State’s Statutory Guidance to Local Authorities on the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions, http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/tma-part-6-cpe-statutory-guidance/betterprkstatutoryguid.pdf, and non-statutory operational guidance, Operational Guidance to Local Authorities: Parking Policy and Enforcement]

 The breakdown of income must include details of revenue collected from on-street parking, off-street parking and Penalty Charge Notices, and

 a breakdown of how the authority has spent a surplus on its parking account [Section 55 (as amended) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 sets out how local authorities should use a surplus on their parking account. Local authorities should breakdown how they have spent a surplus on their parking account within the categories set out in section 55]

Parking spaces

SDC must publish the number of marked out controlled on and off-street parking spaces within their area, or an estimate of the number of spaces where controlled parking space is not marked out in individual parking bays or spaces.

Senior salaries

SDC are already required to publish, under the Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2011 (Statutory Instrument 2011/817)29:

 the number of employees whose remuneration in that year was at least £50,000 in brackets of £5,000

 details of remuneration and job title of certain senior employees whose salary is at least £50,000, and

 employees whose salaries are £150,000 or more must also be identified by name.

In addition to this requirement, local authorities must place a link on their website to these published data or place the data itself on their website, together with a list of responsibilities (for example, the services and functions they are responsible for, budget held and number of staff) and details of bonuses and ‘benefits-in-kind’, for all employees whose salary exceeds £50,000. The key differences between the requirements under this Code and the Regulations referred to above is the addition of a list of responsibilities, the inclusion of bonus details for all senior employees whose salary exceeds £50,000 and publication of the data on the authority’s website.

Pay multiple

Section 38 of the Localism Act 2011 requires local authorities to produce Pay Policy Statements, which should include the authority’s policy on pay dispersion – the relationship between remuneration of chief officers and the remuneration of other staff. Guidance produced under section 40 of that Act30, recommends that the pay multiple is included in these statements as a way of illustrating the authority’s approach to pay dispersion.

SDC must, publish the pay multiple on their website, defined as the ratio between the highest paid taxable earnings for the given year (including base salary, variable pay, bonuses, allowances and the cash value of any benefits-in-kind) and the median earnings figure of the whole of the authority’s workforce. The measure must:

 cover all elements of remuneration that can be valued (eg. all taxable earnings for the given year, including base salary, variable pay, bonuses, allowances and the cash value of any benefits-in-kind)

 use the median earnings figure as the denominator, which should be that of all employees of the local authority on a fixed date each year, coinciding with reporting at the end of the financial year, and

 exclude changes in pension benefits, which due to their variety and complexity cannot be accurately included in a pay multiple disclosure.

Fraud

SDC must publish the following information about their counter fraud work [The definition of fraud is as set out by the Audit Commission in Protecting the Public Purse] :

 number of occasions they use powers under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud (Power to Require Information) (England) Regulations 2014 [S.I. 2014/899], or similar powers [For example, the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Detection of Fraud and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013 gives local authorities the power to require information from listed bodies, during the investigation of fraud connected with an application for or award of a reduction under a council tax reduction scheme: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/501/contents/made

 total number (absolute and full time equivalent) of employees undertaking investigations and prosecutions of fraud

 total number (absolute and full time equivalent) of professionally accredited counter fraud specialists

 total amount spent by the authority on the investigation and prosecution of fraud, and

 total number of fraud cases investigated.

Now ShepwayVox IS NOT SAYING SDC do not publish this information, what ShepwayVox is saying, is can you the humble resident of SDC find it easily and readily? ShepwayVox thinks this should be published and findable very easily for the sake of openness and transparency.

If you find this information please drop me a comment. Look forward to hearing from you.

Shepway Vox