Cllr Athwal's Instructions regarding a cumulative impact report

The request was partially successful.

Dear Redbridge Borough Council,

On 22nd July 2020 I sought the following information from Redbridge Council via a freedom of information request below;

“Dear Redbridge Borough Council,
At the Redbridge June cabinet, Cllr Athwal said in a response to me the following.
"I have asked that all the the cumulative impact of several developments needs to be assessed and that impact, including the air quality, goes forward and is reported to the planning committee when the applications goes forward."
When Cllr Athwal was questioned by me yesterday at cabinet about why he not delivered on his commitment to a cumulative impact report, Cllr Athwal said that he intends to deliver
the cumulative impact report.
So I seek the following information in written instructions to council officers to from Cllr Athwal regarding the cumulative impact study.
1 The names of the developments to be considered in the cumulative impact report.
2 The types of pollutant to be considered, ie NO2,particulutes etc.
3 When is the report expected to be published
4 Apart from air quality, what else will be considered? For example, the impact of so much development on health and education in Redbridge.”
End of extract from my request of 22nd July 2020
Redbridge Council replied on 6th August 2020 to say
“I can confirm that London Borough of Redbridge holds the information you
requested. However, the information is exempt from disclosure under Section
22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA). There is a clear intention to
publish the information at a future date and in line with section 22(1)(c) it is
considered reasonable in all the circumstances ...” (the full text is at the end of this request).

For your ease of convenience what Cllr Athwal said at the June 2020 cabinet is available via my twitter video recording at the link below:

https://twitter.com/Andywalker1945/statu...

In later correspondence to me Redbridge Council claims that the cumulative report commissioned by Cllr Athwal per his statement of June 2020 does not exist. However, the Tesco application is still to be decided upon by Sadiq Khan and may go to court one day so I seek the following information in written instructions to council officers to from Cllr Athwal regarding the cumulative impact study.

“1 The names of the developments to be considered in the cumulative impact report.
2 The types of pollutant to be considered, ie NO2,particulutes etc.
3 When is the report expected to be published
4 Apart from air quality, what else will be considered? For example, the impact of so much development on health and education in Redbridge.”
originally sought by me on 22nd July 2020. Your original reason for not releasing the information in the four points above was an exemption of “clear intention to
publish the information at a future date”. Now that the report will be not be published, this exemption falls away, and so I seek the information Redbridge Council says it holds.

Regards

Andy Walker
The full text of reply to me of 22nd July 2020 is copied below:
London Borough of Redbridge
Lynton House
255-259 High Rd,
Ilford IG1 1NN
Civic Pride Enquiries and Complaints team
Please reply to:
Themis Skouros
Environmental Health Manager
[email address]
www.redbridge.gov.uk
Our ref: 10029182
Date: 6 August 2020
Your reference:[email address]
Dear Andy Walker
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Thank you for your request for information received on 22 July 2020
This request is being handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides two distinct but
related rights of access to information which impose corresponding duties on
public authorities. These are:
• The duty to inform the applicant whether or not information is held by the
authority and, if so,
• The duty to communicate that information to the applicant.
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the London Borough
of Redbridge, when refusing to provide such information (because the
information is exempt within the provisions of the Act) to provide you, the
applicant, with a Notice which:
1. a) states the fact that an exemption has been applied
2. b) specifies the exemption in question, and
3. c) states why the exemption applies (if that would not otherwise be
apparent)
Request
I seek the following information in written instructions to council officers to from
Cllr Athwal regarding the cumulative impact study.
1 The names of the developments to be considered in the cumulative impact
report.
2 The types of pollutant to be considered, ie NO2, particulutes etc.
3 When is the report expected to be published
4 Apart from air quality, what else will be considered? For example, the impact of
so much development on health and education in Redbridge
I can confirm that London Borough of Redbridge holds the information you
requested. However, the information is exempt from disclosure under Section
22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA). There is a clear intention to
publish the information at a future date and in line with section 22(1)(c) it is
considered reasonable in all the circumstances that the information should be
withheld from disclosure until the date of publication.
It is considered that the greater public interest therefore lies in not providing the
information at this time. In coming to that conclusion, the public interest in
providing the information has been carefully weighed against any prejudice to the
public interest that might arise from withholding the information; in all the
circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption
outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
This response therefore acts as a refusal notice under section 17 of the FoIA.
Please quote the reference number 10029182 in any future communications.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome or the handling of your request, you have
the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted within 20 working days of the date of receipt of the response to your
original email or letter and should be addressed to:
Information Officer, 7th Floor (front), Lynton House, High Road, Ilford, IG1 1NN or
sent to [email address]
If you are still dissatisfied with the Council’s response after the internal review
you have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Telephone: 01625 545 700
Website: www.ico.gov.uk
Although the London Borough of Redbridge has considered your request strictly
in accordance with the Act, if any or all of the information provided is to be
published or broadcast, we would like the opportunity to comment on the
information provided, in so far as that publication or broadcast refers to, or in any
way identifies, the London Borough of Redbridge before the information is
published or broadcast. The London Borough of Redbridge’s Press Office can be
contacted on [email address].
Yours faithfully
Themis Skouros
Environmental Health Manager

Yours faithfully,

Andy Walker

London Borough of Redbridge, Redbridge Borough Council

Information request
Our reference: 13050182
Your reference: [FOI #826869 email]

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Dear Redbridge Borough Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Redbridge Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Cllr Athwal's Instructions regarding a cumulative impact report'.

My grounds are

1) I say whether a finished cumulative impact report exists is irrelevant.
2) The purpose of this request is limited to Cllr Athwal's written instructions to officers. Redbridge say these instructions exist .
3) These written instructions do not form part of my request to the ICO regarding whether the cumulative impact report exists. The ICO have written to me to say their decision is limited to whether a report exists or not, not the written instructions.
4) Redbridge now have a duty to disclose in these written instructions which may in due course be part of a submission to the Secretary of State for Housing and or a legal challenge.
5) The situation has changed materially since original application made, no report is to be published so allowing publication of Cllr Athwal's instructions.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...

Yours faithfully,

Andy Walker

London Borough of Redbridge, Redbridge Borough Council

Information request
Our reference: 13457653

show quoted sections

Becky Smith, Redbridge Borough Council

Dear Mr Walker   

 

I am writing to you in reply to your request for a formal review of your
FOI request 13050182 received on 26 January 2022 and responded to on 04
February. An email was received from you on the same day and later again
on 11 March, stating your dissatisfaction with for the following reasons:

 

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews. I am writing to request an internal review of Redbridge Borough
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Cllr Athwal's Instructions
regarding a cumulative impact report'. My grounds are

1) I say whether a finished cumulative impact report exists is
irrelevant.

2) The purpose of this request is limited to Cllr Athwal's written
instructions to officers. Redbridge say these instructions exist .

3) These written instructions do not form part of my request to the ICO  
regarding whether the cumulative impact report exists. The ICO have
written to me to say their decision is limited to whether a report
exists or not, not the written instructions.

4) Redbridge now have a duty to disclose in these written instructions
which may in due course be part of a submission to the Secretary of
State for Housing and or a legal challenge.

5) The situation has changed materially since.

 

As the Head of Business and Performance in the Regeneration and Culture
Directorate and as a senior officer I was asked to independently review
your Internal Review request. I have now conducted the Internal Review
that you requested and the outcome is detailed below.

 

As part of my investigation, I have examined all the correspondence
between you and the Council on this matter and spoken with the officers
responsible for preparing the response.  

 

Please find below the response to this internal review request of FOI
13050182.

 

I am aware at the time that at the time the request came in it was a
repeat of a former request (reference 10553014) and the same issue was
also under investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office. As such
you were informed that the request was suspended until the ICO had
concluded their findings, which they did on 08 March.  The ICO accepted
the Council’s explanation that the cumulative impact report did not
exist. 

 

I understand that you first requested details of the cumulative impact
report for several developments and their impact on air quality after
hearing a commitment made by the Leader to commission this during a June
2020 Cabinet meeting.  There was no written request from the Leader
however the commitment was heard by the Corporate Director and brought
back to the Planning Service.  Various air quality and environmental
reports were commissioned by the developers to support their respective
planning applications and these were duly published on the Council’s
website for transparency.  However, a stand-alone cumulative impact
assessment covering all the developments was never commissioned and does
not exist.   

 

As the report does not exist nor does a written instruction from the
Leader to commission such a report unfortunately, I am unable to answer
your request as the information is not held.

 

The outcome of this review is that I do not uphold your complaint.

 

This completes my investigation.   

 

If you are not content with the outcome of this Internal Review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF 
Telephone:  01625 545 700
[1]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

 

Kind regards

 

Becky

Becky Smith

Head of Business and Performance

Regeneration, Property and Planning

Regeneration and Culture Directorate

London Borough of Redbridge

 

T: 020 8708 2809

 

 

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