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Finance

Pam Williams BSc Econ(Hons) CPFA MCMI By e-mail: request-967530aa28676@whatdotheyknow.com Attn: Mr L Billington
Council Offices, Wellington Road Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside. OL6 6DL Call Centre Fax 0161-342-8355 0161-342- 3889

www.tameside.gov.uk
email: Doc Ref Ask for Direct Line Date ilys.cookson@tameside.gov.uk Ilys Cookson 0161 342 4056 10 January 2012

Dear Mr Billington Freedom of Information Request for Information Unique Reference: FOI 532 I am writing regarding your request for information dated 12 December 2012. You have requested the following information: I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding deductions from councillors' salaries to political parties/trade unions. Could you please give me a monthly breakdown of each councillor's deductions from their salaries to political parties and/or trade unions. With this information, could you please give me the: *Councillor name *Allowance/Expenses Paid *Positions for which the councillor is remunerated for. *Date of payment *Deduction name (name of political party/trade union) *Amount of deduction made *Percentage of deduction made Could you please clarify if these deductions to political parties/trade unions are made before or after tax. Could I please have copies of agreements from councillors who have made payments. Is there agreement with the party leader/chief whip etc which I could have a copy of or please may you tell me the details if this is a verbal agreement. Please may I have the information going back over the past four years or as far back as possible. If you need further clarification, please contact me by email. My preferred format to receive the information is electronically, but I can accept hard copies.

Some parts of this request may be easier to answer than others, and in such case I would ask that you release available data as soon as possible rather than delay the entire request. I confirm that the Council does hold the information that you have requested. Having carefully considered the matter, the Council has determined that the information is exempt from disclosure under the following provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Section 21: information accessible to applicant by other means. Under section 21 of the Act, the Council is not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you. You may access the information that you have requested in relation to councillors names, positions and allowances paid on our website at http://www.tameside.gov.uk/memberallowances/1011. Allowances payable in previous years from 2003/4 are linked to at the bottom of that page. Allowances are paid in twelve equal monthly instalments. Section 40: Personal Information. Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to exempt information from disclosure where disclosure would contravene one or more of the data protection principles set out in the Data Protection Act 1998. The information you have requested about deductions made from pay would breach the first data protection principle which requires data to be processed fairly and lawfully. Councillors have a reasonable expectation that information about deductions an individual chooses to make from his or her allowance would be kept confidential and not disclosed since this does not impact on how public money is spent and relates to the decisions they have made as an individual. I can tell you that any deduction made from councillors allowances are made from the net amount receivable since under UK tax law deductions could not lawfully be deducted from the allowance before tax has been deducted. If you have any queries about this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint, or request a review of the Council's decision, please write to Sandra J Stewart, Borough Solicitor, at Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, Wellington Road, Ashton-underLyne, Tameside OL6 6DL. If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Commissioner cannot normally make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF and at www.ico.gov.uk. Yours sincerely

Ilys Cookson Assistant Executive Director - Exchequer

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