Disposal of land for less then best consideration

Thank you for your request for Information made under the Freedom of Information Act.

Your request will now be dealt with and a response will be sent within 20 working days, starting from the next working day after your request is received.

______________________________________________________________________
'Do it online' with our growing range of online services - http://www.bristol.gov.uk/services

Sign-up for our email bulletin giving news, have-your-say and event information at: http://www.bristol.gov.uk/newsdirect

View webcasts of Council meetings at http://www.bristol.gov.uk/webcast

Dear Mr Mahoney
I am responding to your request under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) for information relating to Disposal of Land for less than best
consideration. I understand your request was submitted on 3rd October
2009 to the City Council.

Your original statements and requests for information are in bold

1. Firstly is Bristol City Council currently involved in any
negotiations that involve disposal of land that, if concluded, will
require consent from the Secretary of State under Section 123 of the Local
Government Act 1972?

A link to the provisions is provided for your reference
[1]http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.asp...
Please see my response under question 3 below.

2. If so please identify the negotiations in question.
Please see my response under question 4 below.

3. Secondly is Bristol City Council currently involved in any
negotiations that involve disposal of land that, if concluded, would
require such consent but for the provisions of the General Disposal
Consent (England) 2003?
A link to the 'consent' is provided and I have extracted specific clauses
for your reference.
[2]http://www.communities.gov.uk/publicatio...

" 1. .......... The Consent removes the requirement for
authorities to seek specific consent from the Deputy Prime Minister and
First Secretary of State ("the Secretary of State") for any disposal of
land where the difference between the unrestricted value of the interest
to be disposed of and the consideration accepted ("the undervalue") is
£2,000,000 (two million pounds) or less.................. "

" 8. ............ The terms of the Consent mean that specific
consent is not required for the disposal of any interest in land which the
authority considers will help it to secure the promotion or improvement of
the economic, social or environmental well-being of its area..........."

The Council is currently involved in negotiations which could potentially
result in the disposal of land for less than best consideration in return
for community benefits but independent assessment of the negotiated terms
will need to be sought to determine the value of any proposed undervalue
of benefits.

Until the negotiated terms, if concluded, are agreed the assessment of any
undervalue benefits cannot be determined. It is therefore not possible
to confirm whether any disposal would require consent from the Secretary
of State under Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972, or be
considered to fall within the General Disposal Consent (England) 2003 ?

4. If so please identify the negotiations in question and what steps
have been taken to demonstrate that such disposal or disposals: 1) are at
least as beneficial as opportunities foregone by agreeing such an
undervalue or undervalues, and 2) promote economic social or environmental
wellbeing.
The negotiations are on-going with Bristol City Football Club.

In the responses to your earlier requests for information of 1 September
and 1 October 2009, the details of ongoing negotiations were refused in
accordance with section 41 and 43 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
The reasons given related to the risk of an actionable breach of
confidence if this information were disclosed and the prejudice to the
commercial interests of the relevant parties if the details of ongoing
negotiations were disclosed at this time.

In the interests of transparency though
a) I confirm final approval of the negotiated terms will be subject to
a report Cabinet where approval to proceed will be sought and the
exemption status will be reviewed.
b) Independent assessment of any proposed terms, if concluded, will be
sought to determine any level of undervalue.
c) The Council seeks to maximise commercial benefit as well as ensuring
full alignment to Corporate Plan and embedded objectives in its land
transactions.

A link to the plan is provided for your reference
(
[3]http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Co...
)

If you require further information please submit your request in writing
to:-
Maureen Hobbs
Corporate Property Business Information Manager
Resources Directorate
Bristol City Council
B Bond
Smeaton Road
Bristol BS1 6EE
e-mail: Estates Information <[4][email address]>
Right of appeal
This response should answer your request in full, however if you are not
satisfied with this response or wish to lodge an appeal against any
exemptions that may have been applied, you can do so by writing to the
Data Protection Officer at Bristol City Council Legal Services, The
Council House, College Green, Bristol, or [5][Bristol City Council request email]. Details
of the complaints procedure can be found at
[6]http://www.bristol.gov.uk/complaints.
If, after you have exhausted the councils complaints procedure, you are
still not satisfied with the response you have received you have the right
to complain to the Information Commissioner, details of your right to
complain can be found at [7]http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx
Copyright notice
The provision of information by Bristol City Council under this scheme
does not imply a right to reproduce or commercially exploit such
information without the Council's express prior written permission.
Reproduction or commercial exploitation of materials supplied under this
scheme without the express permission of Bristol City Council may be an
infringement of copyright. The Council is unable to grant permission to
reproduce or re-use any material accessed through this scheme that is the
property of third parties. Permission to reproduce or re-use such material
must be obtained from the copyright holders.

>>> Keith Mahoney <[8][FOI #19329 email]> 03
October 2009 10:41 >>>
Dear Sir or Madam,

Firstly is Bristol City Council currently involved in any
negotiations that involve disposal of land that, if concluded, will
require consent from the Secretary of State under Section 123 of
the Local Government Act 1972?

If so please identify the negotiations in question.

Secondly is Bristol City Council currently involved in any
negotiations that involve disposal of land that, if concluded,
would require such consent but for the provisions of the General
Disposal Consent (England) 2003?

If so please identify the negotiations in question and what steps
have been taken to demonstrate that such disposal or disposals: 1)
are at least as beneficial as opportunities foregone by agreeing
such an undervalue or undervalues, and 2) promote economic social
or environmental wellbeing.

Yours faithfully,

Keith Mahoney

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[9][FOI #19329 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[10]http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/about...

Is [11][Bristol City Council request email]the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Bristol City Council? If so please contact us using
this form: [12]http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/contact

If you find WhatDoTheyKnow useful as an FOI officer, please ask
your web manager to suggest us on your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Do it online' with our growing range of online services -
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/services

Sign-up for our email bulletin giving news, have-your-say and event
information at: http://www.bristol.gov.uk/newsdirect

View webcasts of Council meetings at http://www.bristol.gov.uk/webcast

References

Visible links
1. http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.asp...
2. http://www.communities.gov.uk/publicatio...
3. http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Co...
4. mailto:[email address]
5. mailto:[Bristol City Council request email]
6. http://www.bristol.gov.uk/complaints
7. http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx
8. mailto:[FOI #19329 email]
9. mailto:[FOI #19329 email]
10. http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/about...
11. mailto:[Bristol City Council request email]
12. http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/contact