Transparency code

We have to publish certain information under the Local Government Transparency Code 2015.

You can re-use this information (excluding any logos) under the terms of the Open Government Licence.

Constitution

We share information on our constitution.

Our constitution shows;

• how we operate,
• how we make decisions
• the procedures we follow to make sure our decisions are efficient, transparent and accountable to local people

Fraud

The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for investigating benefit fraud.

As part of the National Fraud Initiative, we share information on our investigation of non-benefit fraud such as council tax and non-domestic rates.

In 2020/21 we:

• number of occasions they use powers under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud (Power to Require Information) (England) Regulations 2014, or similar powers – 0
• employed one Fraud Officer (0.97, full time equivalent)
• employed two professionally accredited counter fraud specialists. Our Fraud Officer and our Audit, Insurance and Fraud Manager are accredited counter fraud specialists
• spent £46,822 on the investigation and prosecution of fraud
• total number of fraud cases investigated - 192 fraud cases

Grants

We offer grants to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.

We publish information about the grants we have awarded:

• Health and Wellbeing Grants
• Braintree District and Eastlight Community Fund Grants
• Grants awarded by current Councillors
• Grants awarded by retired Councillors
• Other Grants

For grants awarded by current or retired councillors, select a Councillor and then click on the ‘Councillor Grant Scheme’ tab.

Organisation information

We publish our structure chart in April and September.

Our structure chart covers staff in the top three levels of the organisation and includes:

• job grade
• job title
• service, department, and team
• responsibility
• if the role is permanent or temporary
• if the role is full or part-time
• number of direct reports
• salary in £5,000 steps including salary ceiling

We share information on the roles and responsibilities of our Corporate Management team.

We share our Budget Book. Our Budget Book has details of the budget for each service area.

We share information about current vacant posts.

We provide details of our gender pay gap.

Parking Account

The parking accounts provide a breakdown of income and expenditure on our parking service.

We share parking accounts information from 2014 to 2021.

The North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) Joint Committee produces an annual report which provides a breakdown of the enforcement activity and financial performance in each of the partner areas.

Parking Spaces

We provide details of the number of off-street and on street parking spaces.

We provide details of the spaces available in the local authority area and details of any charges that apply for Braintree and Witham car parks.

We share information on the 10p parking scheme.

Pay multiple

The pay multiple is the ratio between the highest-paid taxable earnings and the median earnings figure for our workforce.

Year 1 April 2020 - 31.3.21 our pay multiple was 5.17:1

Procurement Information

We don’t publish information about:

• a Government procurement card, as we do not own one
• waste collections, as these are dealt with in house

We share the rest of our information on the Current Tenders and contracts register.

Spending over £250

We publish monthly reports of payments we made to suppliers over £250.

Social housings asset value

We transferred our housing stock to Greenfields Community Housing Association in 2007. Now known as Eastlight Community Homes.

We closed our Housing Revenue Account on 31 March 2012.

Trade Union Facility Time

As we are a public sector organisation we have to report on our trade union facility time.

Total number of representatives

The absolute number and full time equivalent staff who are union representatives (including general learning and health and safety representatives);

• absolute total number;  4 GMB representatives and 6 Unison representatives (one vacancy)
• full time equivalent; 10
• all GMB representatives are representatives and safety representatives

Total Number of union representatives devoting 50% of their time

The absolute number and full time equivalent of union representatives who devote at least 50% of their time to union duties;

• Absolute Total Number - 0
• FTE – 0

Names of all trade unions represented in the local authority

• GMB
• Unison

A basic estimate of spending on unions

We calculate this as the number of full time equivalent days spent on union duties multiplied by the average salary.

Our basic estimate is nil as much is done in the representatives’ own time

A basic estimate of spending on unions as a percentage of the total pay bill

We calculate this as the number of full time equivalent days spent on union duties multiplied by the average salary and divided by the total pay bill.

Nil

Local Authority Land

We share the details of our land and building assets.