Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Council credit card spend mystery - FOI request ignored?
Daily Telegraph has reported on council credit card spend with some truely spectacular luxury spending from some. Trips abroad being a classic one. Link
You'll be surprised to hear that our very own Haringey Council has not provided data for the FOI request, so we can only speculate ... whether they have something to hide
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Great investigative piece Dave. I bet the council are quaking in their Ugg boots.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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We could indeed make all sorts of interesting speculations, Dave. But why not ask questions instead?
Or is that too much bother? Instead here's a photo that's even larger than the original posting - providing a speculative answer.
(Labour councillor Tottenham Hale)
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Permalink Reply by Inkjetpack on
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GPC cards normally come in two flavours, one for travel and the other for purchases not already covered by framework agreements. All spend has to comply to policy - if you want to know some of the benefits and cost savings made by using this system see http://purchasingcard.info/.
I have one of these cards for travel as the only way you can reserve hotel rooms in advance is by providing a credit card, it also allows me to book budget airlines who use dynamic pricing. Don't believe everything you read in the press.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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I used to have one and I mainly used it to put people into emergency accommodation out of hours if there had been fire or flood; but of course that doesn't make good "news"
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Permalink Reply by JeremyS on
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I agree with Alan Stanton. Why not draft your own FOI? From what you say it sounds like Haringey just didn't bother. As I understand it this isn't an option with the FOI Act. Please do send in your FOI and come back and let us know what they say. Thanks.
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The BBC website quotes Baroness Eaton, Conservative chair of the Local Government Association, who said:
"The use of credit cards for legitimate purposes is entirely appropriate and transparent. It helps reduce red tape by removing the need to invoice businesses and helps the cash-flow of regular suppliers who receive more prompt payment."
Top Credit Card spender Cornwall has come in for a lot of stick. Though at least one of its larger payments turns out to be for a school trip to Goa, where one credit card bill may have been in rupees - not sterling.
It's also premature to suggest Haringey "just didn't bother". The Daily Telegraph's list says only that Haringey "is yet to provide data".
This afternoon I emailed Mr Kevin Crompton Haringey's Chief Executive. I asked him why - if this is the case - Haringey was not able to give an answer to the Daily Telegraph's Freedom of Information request within the Statutory timescale. Also to arrange for me and other councillors to be sent a copy of Haringey's reply. I asked Mr Crompton to confirm that should there appear to be abuses, these will be investigated.
(Labour councillor Tottenham Hale)
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Kevin Crompton replied saying he didn't recall this particular F.o.I. request from the Telegraph. He's asked for the position to be checked: with the timescales involved; whether Haringey has now replied; and if so what was our response. I'll post his reply in due course.
Antoinette Carter's comment on this thread was very interesting. I'm sympathetic to her criticism of the "outrageous banner headlines without providing the full picture". But sloppy inadequate reporting only serves to highlight the need for more real journalism.
So - Daily Telegraph notwithstanding - I wouldn't want heavy restrictions placed on F.o.I. questions. The fact that Tony Blair thinks he was an "idiot" and a "naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop" for supporting the Freedom of Information Act should be an excellent reason for all of us to fight tooth and nail to keep it.
As a 'backbench' councillor I try to use it sparingly to get information from the Council. But I hope those senior staff and councillors who prefer secrecy and obfuscation - fortunately a small minority - remember that the F.o.I tool is there when needed.
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I absolutely believe in FOI; it is a huge step forward in empowering the general public. It promotes openness and transparency and makes decision makers directly accountable to the taxpayers. I am almost evangelical about it! But the Press do put an enormous burden on those who have to answer their questions; often to the detriment of the requests submitted by Mr Ordinary Joe. The likes of the Telegraph (and the Daily Mail) expect, and get, a different level of service because they know that senior managers are scared of bad press, whilst real people, with real issues, are fobbed off with 2nd rate responses. For the record, if you ever need any help/advice on FOI requests etc., please feel free to contact me.
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There can be a number of genuine and valid reasons for not supplying information for FOI requests or restricting the information supplied - see the ICO guidance regarding this and in particular see their advice how to get the information you actually want: http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public/official_information/how_access.aspx
As far I can tell Haringey already publishes all spend over £500 in both CSV (which you can import into Excel or a database) and PDF formats listed here: http://www.haringey.gov.uk//index/business/selling/expenditure.htm
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Thank you particularly to Alan and Inkjetpack for your information and look forward to Mr Crompton's reply. I'm sure it's all above board in these debt laden times. Of course it isn't the credit card that's a potential problem just a little extravagant spending ... even in rupees!
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Freedom of Information is what I do for a living, and I find it endlessly frustrating how the Press seek out outrageous banner headlines, without providing the full picture. As others have already said, it also impossible to make travel arrangements or hotel bookings without a credit card. (Most are, in fact, not credit cards they are charge cards.) Where I worked previously, huge amounts of money where "processed" on credit cards, and then re-charged to the appropriate client/project partner. That money wasn't tax-payers' money being "spent" it was just that the money coming in and out, but the headline figure looks huge.....
For the record, it has been estimated that the cost to all Councils of responding to the Telegraph's enquiry on the subject, runs to about £37,200. (Based on 186 councils at £200 for time/cost of collating information), and that's before you add in all the Central Government Department's who were also contacted. I think the money would be better spent providing Council services (but don't get me started...!)
FYI - here is a segment of the Cabinet Office's response:
"A Government Procurement Card is a credit card which enables a small number of cardholders to make departmental purchases of up to £4,000. The card is limited to specific uses and all purchases have to be formally approved.
"Using the card reduces the costs of processing large volumes of low-value transactions through purchase orders and saves the taxpayer around £28 per transaction."
"All public sector organisations, as well as the Civil Service, are able to use the Government Procurement Card which makes a valuable contribution towards efficiency targets by reducing administration. The amount of money spent using the cards has increased as more and more public sector organisations have used it, reflecting their commitment to achieving efficiencies.
"There are vital safeguards in place to prevent the cards being misused and any evidence that expense rules have been broken would be investigated. Every three months central government departments publish details of expenses claimed by their most senior civil servants."The Government Procurement Card (GPC) is NOT a credit card. It is payment charge card, designed to be settled in full at the end of each month, that allows all levels of public sector workers to pay for low value items in a secure and efficient way. GPC allows the electronic transaction of payments reducing the amount of paperwork and complexity which in turn leads to financial and environmental benefits.
The use of GPC greatly speeds up the circulation of cash in the economy and allows suppliers to be paid much more quickly - this has been particularly beneficial for small and medium enterprises with cash flow problems caused by late payments.
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Below is the reply I got this morning (21 June 2011) from Kevin Crompton, Haringey's Chief Executive.
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"Apologies for the delay.
We did reply to the Telegraph and within timescales to their specific enquiry about credit cards to which we supplied a nil return as we do not use CC’s. We have challenged the information on the Telegraph web site which is misleading.
We have a purchasing card which operates on much more stringent lines that a credit card. They have now submitted a request for purchase card spend over a number of years as part of another national enquiry. This is causing us and other LAs [Local Authorities] some difficulty in that we rely on historical data from the banks and they are unable to meet the current demand from LAs. We are working on our reply.
I am confident that any spending over the past 18 months will stand up to scrutiny and am confident that previous years will also."
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