27 July 2010

Dear Julian

Thank you for your e-mail of 26^th June 2010 requesting information about the EPC privacy impact screening and assessment and documents relating to the release of personal data. Your request was received by Communities and Local Government on 28^th June 2010 and an acknowledgement letter was sent to you on 6^th July.

Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act permits us to exclude documents that are already publicly available. You will find these at the following links:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/epceffectivenessconsult.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/1491281.pdf

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/impactenergyperformancebuildings

I have been giving consideration to qualified exemptions under sections 35, 41 and 42. In accordance with Section 40, in order to release documents to you, I have redacted them so that personal information has been removed.

Section 35: formulation of government policy. This is a qualified exemption and is therefore subject to the public interest test. In consideration, I have taken into account that it is in the public interest to understand how decisions are made. Decisions are often made at the end of an iterative process in which a number of options might be considered and refined over a period of time. In my opinion, this helps to maintain and preserve public confidence in the policy making process. On balance, I think that correspondence which led to the Consultation: Making Better use of Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) and Data, between officials, ministers and third parties might detract from that process. Therefore earlier drafts of correspondence have not been disclosed.

The department has received a number of responses to the questions set out in Chapter 2 of the Consultation, which related to the use of address level data. In consideration, I have taken into account that it is in the public interest to understand how the government consults third parties. However, the detailed analysis and summary of responses is not yet complete. In this circumstance, it is my belief that the public interest in maintaining the exemption does outweigh the public interest in disclosing the information until after the Summary of Responses is published at which time, I would be happy to disclose these documents.

Section 41: In addition, a number of documents are marked personal or confidential; I am consulting third parties for their views on releasing their correspondence. Therefore, I will need to extend the deadline by 20 working days for this process from 27^th July to 25^th August.

Section 42: legal professional privilege. This is a qualified exemption and is therefore subject to the public interest test. Some documents may also be covered under section 35. The public interest favours maintaining the exemption of legal advice for the following reasons:

I have considered those documents which relate to correspondence with our legal advisers and in my opinion, the public interest lies in non-disclosure of correspondence with our legal advisers.

Finally, you specifically requested the below two documents:

We are seeking advice for their release and I will get back to you on this by the new extended date of 25^th August 2010.

Communities and Local Government as an organisation aims to be as helpful as possible in the way it deals with requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. If, however, you are not satisfied with the way in which your request has been handled or the outcome, you may request an internal review within two calendar months of the date of this letter.

Information about the Department's review procedures and how to apply for an internal review of your case can be found at http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/1384250.pdf. This also explains your right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision in the event that you remain dissatisfied following the authority's review

Please contact me if you have any queries about this letter.

Yours sincerely,

Eve Martin