Empty Property List

Dear Andrew,

Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Further to your request, dated 10 March, in which you request the
disclosure of information under the provisions of the above Act, we are
now in a position to respond.

Although we can confirm that Lancashire County Council does hold the
information you have requested, the information is exempt from disclosure
by virtue of Section 31(1) of the Freedom of Information Act. Section
31(1) provides that, subject to a public interest test, information is
exempt if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the
prevention of crime. We believe that disclosing a list of Council-owned
properties that are currently empty is likely to prejudice the prevention
of crime at or upon those properties. In considering the public interest,
we acknowledge that there is a public interest in the County Council being
as open and transparent as possible. However, this must be balanced
against the strong public interest in ensuring that Council-owned property
is protected as well as possible from the effects of crime, thus ensuring
that limited public funds are not unnecessarily diverted. In this
instance, we believe the public interest favours maintaining the
exemption, and accordingly your request is refused by virtue of Section
31(1) of the Act.

Please note that Lancashire County Council only holds information on
property owned by the County Council. The County Council is not a council
tax authority, nor a housing authority, and therefore we do not hold
details of any other empty properties (such as those in private
ownership). Council tax administration and housing are the
responsibilities of the district councils within Lancashire, and for
details of empty properties that they hold you should contact the
districts directly. Details of the District Councils within Lancashire
can be found on the County Council's website at the following URL:

[1]http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/...

Links for each District Council on the above website page will take you
through to the FOI pages for each District Council.

In the event that you wish to complain about the manner in which your
enquiry has been handled, you should write in the first instance to The
Freedom of Information Officer, Lancashire County Council, PO Box 78,
County Hall, Preston PR1 8XJ, or email
[2][Lancashire County Council request email]

If, after this stage, you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to refer
the matter to the Information Commissioner, whose contact details are as
follows:

The Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Tel: 01625 545700

Email: [3][email address]

Website: [4]http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Your request will now be closed as of this date.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information

Access to Information Team

Lancashire County Council

PO Box 78,

County Hall,

Preston,

PR1 8XJ

Tel: 01772 531116

Fax: 01772 530949

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References

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1. http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/...
2. mailto:[Lancashire County Council request email]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/