People and Performance
Mick Forrest Assistant Executive Director
By e- mail: mail@liambillington.com
Council Offices, Wellington Road Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside OL6 6DL www.tameside.gov.uk email:
mick.forrest@tameside.gov.uk
Our Ref Ask for Direct Line Date
WBCJan 2011 Christine Wroe 0161 342 3604 Tuesday 1st February 2011
Dear Mr. Billington, Freedom of Information Request I am writing regarding your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act, which the Council received by e-mail on 6th January 2011 and was acknowledged on 10th January 2011. To confirm, you requested the following information: Please may I have a copy of the invoices for the 5,500 leaflets. The invoice requested is attached. Please can you tell me the job title(s) of the staff who carried out the risk assessment(s), the time taken to carry each individual risk assessment of the six walks and the cost to the council in terms of staff time, car usage etc to inspect the routes. Could you please provide a copy of the individual routes provided to staff? The risk assessments were not carried out by staff of the Council, but by “UrbanWalks” representatives. A copy of the individual routes provided to staff has been sent out to you in the post. Due to Copyright and at the request of “UrbanWalks” I am unable to send you an electronic version of the routes. The information sent to you has been supplied in response to a request for information made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The copyright in the material disclosed belongs to Urban Walks, and is supplied in accordance with the Act. You may not sell, copy, resell or otherwise use any information supplied without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. Please may I have a copy of the invoices and details of the training for the walk leaders. Was this training done inhouse or outsourced to an external provider? The course was open to any member of the public over 18 years of age and was delivered to develop a number of locally based walk leaders to deliver health walks. The course was funded via the Partnerships for Older People’s Project. The training was undertaken inhouse and therefore there is no invoice for the trainer’s time. The invoice for the facility hire for this training is in addition to the £60 and is attached.
People and Performance
The course comprises of theoretical study including the health and safety implications of leading a walk as well as a practical element where an example walk will be undertaken by all the course participants. What are the official job titles for the walk leaders. Was the £60 cost the time for the walk leaders for the day or the training provided? The job titles for the walk leaders are HR Manager & Senior HR Assistant. The £60 is the cost of the trainer’s time. Please may I know each job title for Tameside Council's wellbeing champions. 1) Future Job Fund Programme Co-ordinator 2) Team Leader Environmental Health 3) Workplace Health Improvement Officer 4) Secretary 5) HR Assistant 6) Carers Development Worker 7) Risk Management Assistant 8) Business Support Officer 9) Legal Officer 10) Risk Manager 11) Counsellor 12) Systems Team Leader 13) Health & Physical Activities Manager 14) Advisory Teacher 15) Alcohol Lead Officer 16) Work Group Manager If they volunteer time in their work hours, how much time has been given up by the "wellbeing champions" and what is the cost of their time given up? The Council does not monitor information as to how much time or the cost of the time given up by the Wellbeing Champions. It would be cheaper and quicker to scan the documents to mail@liambillington.com but if you would like to print and post documents at a cost to the taxpayer, then you can post them to Liam Billington, 11 Mellor Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, OL6 6RT. The invoice requested is attached. The walking routes have been put in the post to you as explained in the response above. Rather than providing examples of events which the "Wellbeing Champions" have participated in, can you please provide a definitive list including a cost of these events, a description of the event and a cost of time given up by staff to attend these events. Below is the list of Wellbeing Champions events. Where costs have been incurred these have been indicated on the attached Appendix 1: Costs.
People and Performance
The Council does not monitor the time given up by staff to attend these events. However, the majority of events are held at lunchtimes and staff are able to attend in their own time. End of March 2005, the biggest breakfast (healthy diversity breakfast) was organised in the employee canteen. April 2005 & December 2006, Fit 4 Life events held in conjunction with Tameside Schools offering taster wellbeing activities for employees to take part in after work and during the evening. July 2005, the “Monster” bike ride took place from Manchester to Blackpool at the weekend and raised £2,500 for Willow Wood Hospice. December 2005, Saints and Sinners day took place. Tameside College student’s baked healthier cakes which were sold in the staff canteen and £300 was raised for Willow Wood Hospice. March 2006, Tameside Carers Service available at Tameside Administration Centre with further information on services available to carers. 17th – 25th June 2006, Bike to Work Week. Cycling promotion, nutritional information and healthy breakfasts available for employees at Tameside Administration Centre and Concorde Suite. December 2006, a Countdown to Christmas. Tameside College Students bake healthier cakes and a quiz on sensible drinking takes place with visits to outstations. January 2007, Walk off Christmas. A stepping competition is launched across the Council to encourage employees to get active by taking the stairs and walking. May 2007, improving wellbeing workshop held at Council Offices during lunchtime. 14th March 2008, Sport Relief takes place with fundraising mile challenges on walking, jogging, netball, football, dancercise and cycling. March 2008, “Looking at Lifestyle” workshops take place at lunch time in conjunction with Tameside & Glossop Primary Care Trust on healthy eating & self-esteem. June & July 2008, a 6-week programme of events called Back to Activity is launched across the Council to encourage employees to get a little more active. Football, netball, dancercise taster sessions and lunchtime walks took place. Back to Activity events also took place in October to December 2008 and January 2009. September 2008, partnership work with Tameside & Glossop PCT takes place to deliver the Blood Pressure Associations National Campaign ‘Know Your Numbers’. October 2008 to June 2010, singing for health & enjoyment sessions take place at lunchtimes. December 2008, safe and sensible drinking. In conjunction with Community Safety sessions were ran on safe and sensible alcohol levels. This included interactive alcohol awareness games and how to measure units of alcohol. January 2009, Urban Walks. Short local walks were designed from 6 TMBC office bases and these were promoted for a week with led walks each lunchtime.
People and Performance
May 2009 – Walk to Work Week. Involved promoting ways of introducing walking into your working week, including walking to work, walking meetings and walking at lunchtime. October 2009 Weight Matters Sessions. Weight Matters is a four week lunchtime course delivered by Tameside’s Health Improvement Team to support employees to live a healthy lifestyle. As well as weigh-in sessions the course looks at topics such as healthy breakfasts, food labels, exercise and self esteem offering tools and tips to support individuals to make healthier choices. In addition to the above below are the details of the two events (referred to in my previous correspondence to you, dated 17th December 2010) which the Wellbeing Champions promoted. January 2006, Occupational Health launch Lifestyle Clinics measuring height, weight, waist measurement, BMI, blood pressure and random cholesterol for employees. Wellbeing Champions were involved in the promotion of these clinics which were delivered by the Council’s Occupational Health Unit. March 2010 - Money Matters Sessions. Wellbeing Champions were involved in the promotion of these sessions which were delivered by the Financial Service Authority to staff at lunchtime under the “Moneymadeclear” brand. In addition to the information you have requested I have also attached some background information about the Council’s approach to health and wellbeing. This can be found in appendix 2. The Council will not be charging you for the time taken by Council officers to find, sort, edit or redact the requested material required for the information above. 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
Christine Wroe Senior HR Practitioner People and Performance Service Tameside MBC
Appendix 2: Additional Information Health & Wellbeing Background The Council recognises that its workforce is a key resource and like any other resource needs to be managed successfully. We are committed to not only improving performance at work through health and wellbeing but also to actively promote health by encouraging employees and our customers to make small changes to their lifestyle which can make a big difference to how they think and feel. The philosophy, which underpins this commitment, is one of self help and individual responsibility within an organisational framework, promoting and supporting best practice, compliance with legislation, addressing key workplace risks to health and encouraging a healthy lifestyle culture. The work undertaken by wellbeing champions and the Occupational Health Unit contributes to this commitment. The Council works together with partners to drive forward proactive work on improving health and managing attendance to achieve increased capacity and efficiency within the organisation enabling the continual delivery of efficient and effective services for the community. In recognition of this approach the Council has been published as case studies of good practice for a) the Government’s Health, Work and Well-being Executive and b) Department of Health’s publication ‘Health Inequalities: Progress and Next Steps’. Our work has become a model of best practice which has been shared with other employers through dissemination at local, regional and national conferences.
Appendix 1 Costs 2006/07 Printing & Stationery Misc Expenses Prizes for Competition Fit 4 Life Events Lifestyle Clinics
Year
2007/08 786.56 13.05 250 1000 17000
Printing & Stationery Refreshment & Room Hire Misc Expenses Postages
602.87 358.39 43.82 395.52
2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10
Cost per head* (excluding schools) £4.28 £0.31 £2.03 £0.09
*Employee figures based at 1st April for each financial year
£19,049.61
2008/09
Back to Activity Initiative Printing & Stationery Refreshment & Room Hire Misc Expenses Singing for Health & Enjoyment Urbanwalks
2009/10
1900.6 2646.35 15 151.67 225 4200
£9,138.62
Total
£1,400.60
£30,005.33
Refreshment & Room Hire Singing for Health & Enjoyment
194 222.5
£416.50