Enquiries to:
Information Team
Our Ref:
FOI11882700/IR
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Dear Josie Mullen
Freedom of Information Request 11882700/IR Thank you for your request that the Council undertake an Internal Review of the above
information request. For purposes of clarity and context, your original request is
summarised below as follows –
Please supply the following information:
[1] The date/s when LCC first contacted the owner/ owners of the following areas of
land with the intention of acquiring these sites. [Please provide links to relevant docs
when this was decided]
•
Brunswick Place (MS 636766, MS 126630, MS 277542, MS 323312).
•
Derby Road (MS640545, MS 631148).
•
Forth Street (MS 138488).
•
Margarine Works (MS 138467).
[2] Please give date/s when LCC agreed Terms for these areas of land
[3] Please give reasons why these areas of land were acquired [with links to the
relevant meetings]
Response:
The basis under which this review is undertaken is that the Council has not provided a
timely response.
We agree with your assessment and uphold your request for review insofar as a response
has been delayed. This is unacceptable and we apologise for any inconvenience caused by
the Council’s failure to respond in a timely manner.
In relation to the specifics of this request, our responses are as follows –
1.
To the extent that records are held or retained, the Council has conducted searches of
electronic and paper-based files.
Electronic searches were undertaken in respect of a files retained on servers
operated by the Council for the purposes of receipt, processing, and transactions of
email data exchanges and records management. Remote and targeted searches
were conducted utilising a free-text search facility, using grouped wording selections
using terms relevant to this part of your request, focussed on the content of calendar
entries.
A series of search terms were used, including (note mis-spelt version included to cover
all scenarios) –
‘•
Brunswick Place’, ‘Derby Road’, ‘Forth Street’, ‘Margarine Works’ accompanied
Liverpool City Council Information Team
Cunard Building, Water Street, Liverpool, L3 1DS
E:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
by the following terms –
‘sale’, ‘freehold’, ‘lease’, ‘asset’, ‘interest in acquiring’.
Emails which evidenced prior discussions were set aside following review as these do
not identify dates of initial contact. Following further review, the following results are
reported –
•
City Development Directorate (formerly Regeneration) – no results relevant
identified.
•
Finance & Resources Directorate – no results relevant identified.
•
Democratic Services (Elected Members) – no results relevant identified.
•
Legal Services – no results relevant identified.
•
Property & Asset Management – no results relevant identified.
Whilst emails and correspondence may previously have existed, there is no obligation
on the Council, individual elected members or officers to retain all correspondence.
The Council further notes that officers of relevant seniority who will have dealt with
these matters are no longer employed by the Council and therefore this limits the
extent of retained records which we are able to access.
These search results reflect extensive examination of records remotely through central
ICT services and are therefore comprehensive in nature to inform this response.
The Council therefore concludes that it no longer retains correspondence sufficient to
identify the initial point of contact for each of these acquisitions. This information is no
longer retained.
2.
Terms were formally agreed at the point of acquisition and are as follows. Additional
information is available online
•
CEMEX site – MS636766 – acquired 12/08/2016
•
Derby Road site – MS640545 – acquired 02/11/2016
•
Forth Street – MS138488 – acquired 02/11/2016
•
Margarine Works – MS138467 – acquired 02/11/2016
3.
The sites were originally acquired as part of a previous initiative for the development of
a proposed training facility, recognised under the name ‘Tarmacademy’. Acquisitions
were authorised through delegated approvals processes and as such committee
meetings were not convened for this purpose.
This concludes our response.
Your request for a review is upheld insofar as a response has been unacceptably delayed
as a result of this failure.
The Council sincerely apologises for any inconvenience caused by this failure.
The Council will consider appeals in respect of your request. If you wish to appeal, please
Liverpool City Council Information Team
Cunard Building, Water Street, Liverpool, L3 1DS
E:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
do so writing to
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx within 28 days of receiving your
response. The matter will be dealt with by an officer who was not previously involved with
the response and we will look to provide a response within 40 days.
If you remain dissatisfied you may also apply to the Information Commissioner for a
decision about whether the request for information has been dealt with in accordance with
the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Information Commissioner’s website is
www.ico.gov.uk and the postal address and telephone numbers are:- Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Telephone: 0303-123-113. Email
–xxxx@xxx.xxx.xxx.xx (they advise that their email is not
secure)
We trust this information satisfies your enquiry.
Yours sincerely
A Lewis
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council Information Team
Cunard Building, Water Street, Liverpool, L3 1DS
E:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx