Development of council owned sites - Waltham Abbey

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Epping Forest District Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Epping Forest District Council,
With regard to the council owned land to the North of Dowding Way, Waltham Abbey please provide all information you hold relating to the following:
- Information provided through the Land Promoter / Developer Survey 2017 (including but not limited to site ref: SR-1034-Z / SR-0061 / SR-0370);
- Information relating to informal agreements between the council and adjacent landowners to work together at this site;
- All other information dating from 1 Jan 2017 to present (including internal and external correspondence, emails, reports and meetings) relating to the council and council Estates Team concerning development of this council owned land.

Yours faithfully,

Liam Lakes

Garry Pelka, Epping Forest District Council

1 Attachment

Dear Liam Lakes,

Freedom of Information Request Ref:1404

I refer to your recent request for information about Council owned land in
Waltham Abbey, which was received by the Council on Tuesday 15th September
2020.

Your request is being dealt with in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and will be responded to within twenty working days
of the date of its receipt by the Council.

If you have any queries about your freedom of information request, do not
hesitate to contact me. Please quote the reference number above in any
further communication concerning your request.

Yours faithfully,

Garry Pelka

Epping Forest District Council
Civic Offices,
High Street,
Epping,
Essex, CM16 4BZ

(01992) 564000

Garry Pelka, Epping Forest District Council

1 Attachment

Dear Liam Lakes,

Freedom of Information Request Ref: 1404

In response to the Freedom of Information request from yourself dated
15^th September 2020 which stated:

Dear Epping Forest District Council,

With regard to the council owned land to the North of Dowding Way, Waltham
Abbey please provide all information you hold relating to the following:
- Information provided through the Land Promoter / Developer Survey 2017
(including but not limited to site ref: SR-1034-Z / SR-0061 / SR-0370);
- Information relating to informal agreements between the council and
adjacent landowners to work together at this site;
- All other information dating from 1 Jan 2017 to present (including
internal and external correspondence, emails, reports and meetings)
relating to the council and council Estates Team concerning development of
this council owned land.

Section 14 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) allows public
authorities to classify requests as vexatious and/or repeated.  In such
circumstances a public authority is not obliged to comply with the
request.  The purpose of this provision is to prevent abuse of the “right
to know”. 

The Council has decided to refuse your recent freedom of information
request, submitted on 15^th September 2020 under section 14 of the FOIA
and list with our reasoning below:

Over the last 3 years, you have made 6 FOI requests that are specifically
aimed at information related to planning and development matters at
Dowding Way and one EIR request which, while looking at different matters
in the whole, requested documents regarding the same piece of land. These
requests were made on:

o 22^nd June 2018
o 25^th June 2018
o 23^rd July 2018
o 12^th March 2019
o 9^th Mach 2020
o 27^th August 2020 (EIR)
o 15^th September 2020

On three occasions in that list, you made a request relating to similar
information within 20 working days of a previous request. In addition, the
ICO have recently completed an investigation regarding our response to one
of these previous FOI requests where the matter was drawn to a close after
more than a year through our presentation of a letter from the CEO of EFDC
stating we had no further information for you regarding meetings between
Next PLC, Bidwells and the Council relating to the development of this
land. Furthermore, you have again reported us to the ICO in September 2020
for our response to your most recent EIR without waiting for the internal
review that you also requested from us.

In every case, we have tried to provide you with the information you have
requested. In each case, the officer time required by the Council to
provide you with the information has been costly and we now question
whether the purpose and value of providing the information to you
justifies the impact on resources at EFDC. With regard to your current FOI
request we consider the time to be taken to ascertain what has been given
to you previously and what may constitute new information will take more
than the 18 staff hours allowed under the cost implications of the FOI
process and so this also has been taken in to account.

Finally, we consider point 3 of your current request as already having
been provided, up to March 2019, due to your FOI request at that time
which stated:

“…please provide all information you hold (including reports, drawings,
meetings, emails and attachments, letters, phone logs, memoranda and any
other form of records) relating to land owned by the Council to the North
of Dowding Way, Waltham Abbey.”

Therefore, in compliance with our s16 duty to provide advice and
assistance, we suggest you narrow the scope of your FOI request, in
relation to point 3, to be documents between the Council and Council
estates team from March 2019 onwards, then we will be happy to reconsider
our response

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your freedom of information
request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review
requests should be submitted within two months of the date of your receipt
of this response to your request and should be addressed to: Nathalie
Boateng - Shared Head of Legal Services, Epping Forest District Council,
Civic Offices, Epping, Essex, CM16 4BZ.

Please quote the reference number above in any further communication
concerning your freedom of information request.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of an internal review, you have
the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner in
connection with the Council’s handling of your request. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours faithfully,

Garry Pelka

Epping Forest District Council
Civic Offices,
High Street,
Epping,
Essex, CM16 4BZ

(01992) 564000

Dear Epping Forest District Council,
I refer to your response to this FOI request received today, 8th October 2020.

As you are well aware my FOI request sent on 15th September 2020 cannot be classified as a vexatious and/or repeated request under Section 14 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your statement that “on three occasions … you made a request relating to similar information within 20 working days of a previous request” is plainly wrong. The requests are only similar in the sense that they relate to the proposed development of land in Waltham Abbey. Each request was separate and covered different aspects. Of the 6 FOI requests you refer to the first two were closed out in 2018. Your response to the third FOI request in July 2018 denied that any information existed relating to the Dowding Way development from before February 2018 – this resulted in an ICO complaint that revealed you were in fact withholding vital information that confirmed you were in discussions with the landowner and developer from 2017 and earlier.

Your response goes on to say that “In every case, we have tried to provide you with the information you have requested. In each case, the officer time required by the Council to provide you with the information has been costly and we now question whether the purpose and value of providing the information to you justifies the impact on resources at EFDC”. To say that you have tried to provide the information in “every case” is a figment of your imagination and certainly not borne out by the facts. I can assure you that the ICO do not take up and uphold complaint investigations without there being thorough evidence of non-compliance. Perhaps, if your officers focussed their time appropriately on responding to the actual FOI request rather than attempting to avoid, obstruct and delay providing the information you would have dealt with it much quicker yet here we are again with another specious attempt by the council to avoid your legal responsibilities. Yet again this is a cynical attempt by you to delay releasing important documents until after the planning approval has been granted.

Turning to the specific request of 15th September 2020: as you are fully aware Points 1 and 2 concerning the Land Promoter / Developer Survey 2017 and agreements between the council and adjacent landowners have never been previously requested, have never been provided by EFDC under previous FOI requests and do not appear anywhere on the council website. Please provide this information immediately.

Only under Point 3 is there a potential case of a repeated request relating to this subject request and an earlier request of 12th March 2019. Your initial response of 11th April 2019 to the March 2019 FOI request advised that you had no information other than that published in the 2017 LPSV. The veracity of the council response was challenged and on 20th May 2019 your updated response included statements that the site was not included in the “Call for Sites” process and (despite previously confirming no information existed) that there was in fact information held by your Estates Team but it was “commercially sensitive and confidential”. No further information was forthcoming. I wrote again on 17 October 2019 to request that you confirm that “your Internal Review is complete and that you are unwilling to disclose the requested information” but did not receive a response from the council. Considering your non-response I am fully justified in repeating this part of the request and kindly request that you immediately comply.

Please treat this as a request for an Internal Review.

Yours faithfully,

Liam Lakes

Freedom of Information, Epping Forest District Council

3 Attachments

Thank you for your reply. I acknowledge receipt of your request for an
internal review and we will respond within relevant timescales.

 

Garry Pelka

Senior Business Support Officer – FOI & SAR

 

(In order to reduce email clutter for colleagues, I will not be sending
out responses that are purely a thank you for information sent. Therefore,
please accept my thanks in advance!)

 

[1]E1FD96EC

 

From: Liam Lakes <[FOI #691613 email]>
Sent: 08 October 2020 16:36
To: FOI Enquiries <[email address]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Development
of council owned sites - Waltham Abbey

 

CAUTION: This Message originated outside of Epping Forest District
Council. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the
sender and know the content is safe.

Dear Epping Forest District Council,

I refer to your response to this FOI request received today, 8th October
2020.

As you are well aware my FOI request sent on 15th September 2020 cannot be
classified as a vexatious and/or repeated request under Section 14 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your statement that “on three occasions …
you made a request relating to similar information within 20 working days
of a previous request” is plainly wrong. The requests are only similar in
the sense that they relate to the proposed development of land in Waltham
Abbey. Each request was separate and covered different aspects. Of the 6
FOI requests you refer to the first two were closed out in 2018. Your
response to the third FOI request in July 2018 denied that any information
existed relating to the Dowding Way development from before February 2018
– this resulted in an ICO complaint that revealed you were in fact
withholding vital information that confirmed you were in discussions with
the landowner and developer from 2017 and earlier.

Your response goes on to say that “In every case, we have tried to provide
you with the information you have requested. In each case, the officer
time required by the Council to provide you with the information has been
costly and we now question whether the purpose and value of providing the
information to you justifies the impact on resources at EFDC”. To say that
you have tried to provide the information in “every case” is a figment of
your imagination and certainly not borne out by the facts. I can assure
you that the ICO do not take up and uphold complaint investigations
without there being thorough evidence of non-compliance. Perhaps, if your
officers focussed their time appropriately on responding to the actual FOI
request rather than attempting to avoid, obstruct and delay providing the
information you would have dealt with it much quicker yet here we are
again with another specious attempt by the council to avoid your legal
responsibilities. Yet again this is a cynical attempt by you to delay
releasing important documents until after the planning approval has been
granted.

Turning to the specific request of 15th September 2020: as you are fully
aware Points 1 and 2 concerning the Land Promoter / Developer Survey 2017
and agreements between the council and adjacent landowners have never been
previously requested, have never been provided by EFDC under previous FOI
requests and do not appear anywhere on the council website. Please provide
this information immediately.

Only under Point 3 is there a potential case of a repeated request
relating to this subject request and an earlier request of 12th March
2019. Your initial response of 11th April 2019 to the March 2019 FOI
request advised that you had no information other than that published in
the 2017 LPSV. The veracity of the council response was challenged and on
20th May 2019 your updated response included statements that the site was
not included in the “Call for Sites” process and (despite previously
confirming no information existed) that there was in fact information held
by your Estates Team but it was “commercially sensitive and confidential”.
No further information was forthcoming. I wrote again on 17 October 2019
to request that you confirm that “your Internal Review is complete and
that you are unwilling to disclose the requested information” but did not
receive a response from the council. Considering your non-response I am
fully justified in repeating this part of the request and kindly request
that you immediately comply.

Please treat this as a request for an Internal Review.

Yours faithfully,

Liam Lakes

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

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[2][FOI #691613 email]

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Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
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show quoted sections

Dear EFDC,
You have again failed to respond within the timescale prescribed by the legislation. Coincidentally I note EFDC are planning to submit the development for approval to the planning committee next month. I will be requesting that the ICO to investigate a deliberate attempt to withhold and/or conceal information.

Yours sincerely,

Liam Lakes

Nathalie Boateng, Epping Forest District Council

4 Attachments

Dear Mr Lakes

 

Thank you for your email.  As I have explained in my other email to you, I
am very sorry for the delay in dealing with your internal review.  I will
endeavour to complete the internal review by Monday 30 November.

 

As I suggested in my other email, I am happy to meet with you via
Microsoft Teams to discuss you FOI and EIR requests personally if that
would be of assistance.

 

Kind regards

 

Nathalie Boateng

Shared Head of Legal

Services & Monitoring Officer for

Broxbourne and Epping Forest DC

 

Tel: 01992 564323

 

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

Epping Forest District Council, Civic Offices, 323 High Street, Epping,
Essex CM16 4BZ

 

Please note my usual working days for Epping are Tuesday, Thursday and
alternative Fridays I may not have access to emails outside of those days,
if your query is urgent please email [1][email address]

 

 

From: Freedom of Information <[email address]>
Sent: 20 November 2020 09:38
To: Nathalie Boateng <[email address]>
Subject: FW: Internal review of Freedom of Information request -
Development of council owned sites - Waltham Abbey

 

As predicted...

 

show quoted sections

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[2][FOI #691613 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on

the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[3][2]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the

latest advice from the ICO:

[4][3]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will

be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web

manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

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

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[4][FOI #691613 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[5]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:

[6]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

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

[7]Epping Forest District Council

Safer spaces is a council-led programme to help kickstart the local
economy and reopen high streets in the Epping Forest district [8]Click
Here to have your say on social distancing and safer spaces

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Disclaimer Epping Forest District Council

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Nathalie Boateng, Epping Forest District Council

4 Attachments

Dear Mr Lakes

 

Further to my email  on 22 November I have now completed the internal
review of your FOI reference 1404.

 

On 15 September 20 you requested:-

 

With regard to the council owned land to the North of Dowding Way, Waltham
Abbey please provide all information you hold relating to the following:
- Information provided through the Land Promoter / Developer Survey 2017
(including but not limited to site ref: SR-1034-Z / SR-0061 / SR-0370);
- Information relating to informal agreements between the council and
adjacent landowners to work together at this site;
- All other information dating from 1 Jan 2017 to present (including
internal and external correspondence, emails, reports and meetings)
relating to the council and council Estates Team concerning development of
this council owned land.

The Council responded on 8 October and indicated that it had classified
your request as vexatious and or repetitive pursuant to S14 of the Freedom
of information Act 2020.  Having reviewed your previous requests I
consider there are sufficient differences for it not to be treated as
repeated.  With regard to the third question, you acknowledge that there
was potential for that request to be considered as repeated.  I understand
a further question asked by you on 17 October 19 was not responded to and
you therefore consider that the third element of your request should as a
result not be treated as repeated.

 

A complaint received from the ICO was, in error, taken as relating this
FOI when in fact it related to a separate FOI made in March 2020. 
Therefore the Council was mistaken when it said you had referred this FOI
to the ICO without first requesting an internal review.

 

I do not uphold the Council’s decision to treat your request reference
1404 as vexatious and repeated.  I will now ask the Council’s FOI officer
to respond to your FOI request dated 15^th September as a priority.

 

Kind regards

 

Nathalie Boateng

Shared Head of Legal

Services & Monitoring Officer for

Broxbourne and Epping Forest DC

 

Tel: 01992 564323

 

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

Epping Forest District Council, Civic Offices, 323 High Street, Epping,
Essex CM16 4BZ

 

Please note my usual working days for Epping are Tuesday, Thursday and
alternative Fridays I may not have access to emails outside of those days,
if your query is urgent please email [1][email address]

 

 

[2]Epping Forest District Council

Safer spaces is a council-led programme to help kickstart the local
economy and reopen high streets in the Epping Forest district [3]Click
Here to have your say on social distancing and safer spaces

[4]CV Alert

Our employees are working from home and have access to emails and
telephones. We are doing everything we can to support our residents and
local businesses. To avoid risk of cross-contamination please don't send
items and correspondence through the post unless absolutely necessary. For
up to date information and service updates go to our website at
www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk. Stay alert. Control the virus. Save lives.

Disclaimer Epping Forest District Council

If you received this email by mistake, please let us know and delete it.
We ask you to respect any confidential or private information in the
email. Do not share it unless appropriate to do so. We take precautions to
minimise risk but we cannot guarantee the safety, confidentiality and
security of the internet. Please carry out your own virus checks on any
attachments. We are not liable or bound by the content of this email. Our
employees are fully responsible for the content of their emails and we
expect them to remain within the law. However, the views expressed by our
employees may not necessarily reflect the policies of Epping Forest
District Council.

References

Visible links
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3. Have Your Say
https://efdcsaferspacescovid19.commonpla...

Dear EFDC,
The information requested under this FOI should have been received by 13 October 2020. As you have completed your Internal Review and still no information has been received I will be referring this to the ICO for resolution.

Yours sincerely,

Liam Lakes

Nathalie Boateng, Epping Forest District Council

5 Attachments

Dear Mr Lakes

 

Please find attached EFDC’s response to your FOI reference number 1404.

 

I apologise for the delay.

 

Kind regards

 

Nathalie Boateng

Shared Head of Legal

Services & Monitoring Officer for

Broxbourne and Epping Forest DC

 

Tel: 01992 564323

 

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

Epping Forest District Council, Civic Offices, 323 High Street, Epping,
Essex CM16 4BZ

 

Please note my usual working days for Epping are Tuesday, Thursday and
alternative Fridays I may not have access to emails outside of those days,
if your query is urgent please email [1][email address]

 

 

From: Liam Lakes <[FOI #691613 email]>
Sent: 06 January 2021 18:12
To: Nathalie Boateng <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Request for Internal Review FOI reference 1404

 

CAUTION: This Message originated outside of Epping Forest District
Council. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the
sender and know the content is safe.

Dear EFDC,

The information requested under this FOI should have been received by 13
October 2020. As you have completed your Internal Review and still no
information has been received I will be referring this to the ICO for
resolution.

Yours sincerely,

Liam Lakes

show quoted sections

Dear Nathalie Boateng,
You appear to have responded to a different FOI request and re-issued a response previously received on 27 November 2020. The response to this FOI request (made on 15 September 2020) is still outstanding and has already been referred to the ICO.

Yours sincerely,

Liam Lakes

Epping Forest District Council

1 Attachment

Dear Liam Lakes,

Freedom of Information Request Ref: 1404

I refer to your request for information about land to the North of Dowding
Way, Waltham Abbey. The information you requested is as follows:

 With regard to the council owned land to the North of Dowding Way,
Waltham Abbey please provide all information you hold relating to the
following:

- Information relating to informal agreements between the council and
adjacent landowners to work together at this site;
 

* All the information relating to the Council’s site selection exercise
in 2016/17 and 2018 can be viewed online
at: [1]https://www.efdclocalplan.org/local-plan...
* Evidence Base Documents EB800 through to EB804 relate to the 2016/17
site selection including the methodology for considering sites and the
conclusion of the assessment work. EB801Gxvii contains the assessment
of site refs: SR-0061 and SR-0370.  Site ref: SR-1034-Z is referred to
within the employment sites evidence bases, including EB804 (sites for
consideration following Regulation 18 consultation).

- All other information dating from 1 Jan 2017 to present (including
internal and external correspondence, emails, reports and meetings)
relating to the council and council Estates Team concerning development of
this council owned land.
 
The Council is not able to respond this question due the exemption
provided pursuant to S41 of the Freedom of information Act 2000.
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright.
You are free to use it for your own purposes, including for private study
and non-commercial research, and for any other purpose authorised by an
exception in current copyright law. Documents (except photographs) can be
also used in the UK without requiring permission for the purposes of news
reporting. Any other reuse, for example commercial publication, would
require the permission of the copyright holder.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your freedom of information
request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review
requests should be submitted within two months of the date of your receipt
of this response to your request and should be addressed to: Nathalie
Boateng, Shared Head of Legal Services, Epping Forest District Council,
Civic Offices, Epping, Essex, CM16 4BZ.

Please quote the reference number above in any further communication
concerning your freedom of information request.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of an internal review, you have
the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner in
connection with the Council’s handling of your request. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours faithfully,

Lynne Ridley

Epping Forest District Council
Civic Offices,
High Street,
Epping,
Essex, CM16 4BZ

(01992) 564000

References

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Dear FOI team,
I note your response of 15 March 2021 which does not provide the information requested .

As a reminder - this FOI request was made on 15 September 2020 and an Internal Review was requested on 8 October 2020. Your response to the Internal Review was received on 25 November 2020 and advised that the request would be dealt with as a priority. No further information was forthcoming and the statutory period for your response was considerably exceeded. Consequently I notified you on 6 January 2021 that your failure to respond had been reported as a formal complaint to the ICO. This is now a matter for resolution by the ICO.

I would also point out the following issues with your latest reply:
- you have not responded to the first part of the request concerning information you received (which has not been published on your web site) relating to the Land Promoter / Developer Survey of 2017;
- information relating to the informal agreement with adjacent landowners is not published on your web site;
- you have not provided any explanation or justification for claiming exemption under S41 of the FOI Act (which in any case is not applicable to the information requested).

Yours faithfully,

Liam Lakes

Nathalie Boateng, Epping Forest District Council

6 Attachments

ICO CASE REFERENCE 82158 – L4J8

 

Dear Mr Lakes

 

Thank you for your email dated 16 March.

 

I apologise that there has been confusion over your FOI responses.  I
wrote to you on 23 February 2021 enclosing responses to FOI reference
1404, those responses were actually answers to an FOI you submitted on 27
November 2020 and not to the questions you asked on 15 September 2020.  We
wrote to you on 15 March 2021 with responses to your FOI dated 15^th
September 2020. 

 

I have copied in the ICO because they wrote to EFDC on 29 January 2021
asking us to respond to you FOI of 15 September, which we thought we did
on 23 February, however we now realise we answered the subsequent FOI
dated 27 November (the ICO’s letter is attached).

 

For ease of reference I set out below the FOI questions you raised with
EFDC on 15^th September 2020:-

 

With regard to the council owned land to the North of Dowding Way, Waltham
Abbey please provide all information you hold relating to the following:

 

- Information provided through the Land Promoter / Developer Survey 2017
(including but not limited to site ref: SR-1034-Z / SR-0061 / SR-0370);

 

- Information relating to informal agreements between the council and
adjacent landowners to work together at this site;

 

- All other information dating from 1 Jan 2017 to present (including
internal and external correspondence, emails, reports and meetings)
relating to the council and council Estates Team concerning development of
this council owned land.

 

The Council’s response to the first question was:-

 

o All the information relating to the Council’s site selection exercise
in 2016/17 and 2018 can be viewed online
at: [1][1]https://www.efdclocalplan.org/local-plan...
Evidence Base Documents EB800 through to EB804 relate to the 2016/17
site selection including the methodology for considering sites and the
conclusion of the assessment work. EB801Gxvii contains the assessment
of site refs: SR-0061 and SR-0370.  Site ref: SR-1034-Z is referred to
within the employment sites evidence bases, including EB804 (sites for
consideration following Regulation 18 consultation).

 

In response to the next two questions the Council indicated that the S41
exemption applied under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  S41
provides, information is exempt information if, a)  it was obtained by the
public authority from any other person (including another public
authority), and  b) the disclosure of the information to the public
(otherwise than under this Act) by the public authority holding it would
constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person.

 

Please let me know if we can be of further assistance.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Nathalie Boateng

Shared Head of Legal

Services & Monitoring Officer for

Broxbourne and Epping Forest DC

 

Tel: 01992 564323

 

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

Epping Forest District Council, Civic Offices, 323 High Street, Epping,
Essex CM16 4BZ

 

Please note my usual working days for Epping are Tuesday, Thursday and
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From: Liam Lakes [[FOI #691613 email]]
Sent: 16 March 2021 15:59
To: FOI Enquiries
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information Request – Response Letter

CAUTION: This Message originated outside of Epping Forest District
Council. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the
sender and know the content is safe.

Dear FOI team,

I note your response of 15 March 2021 which does not provide the
information requested .

As a reminder - this FOI request was made on 15 September 2020 and an
Internal Review was requested on 8 October 2020. Your response to the
Internal Review was received on 25 November 2020 and advised that the
request would be dealt with as a priority. No further information was
forthcoming and the statutory period for your response was considerably
exceeded. Consequently I notified you on 6 January 2021 that your failure
to respond had been reported as a formal complaint to the ICO. This is now
a matter for resolution by the ICO.

I would also point out the following issues with your latest reply:

- you have not responded to the first part of the request concerning
information you received (which has not been published on your web site)
relating to the Land Promoter / Developer Survey of 2017;

- information relating to the informal agreement with adjacent landowners
is not published on your web site;

- you have not provided any explanation or justification for claiming
exemption under S41 of the FOI Act (which in any case is not applicable to
the information requested).

Yours faithfully,

Liam Lakes

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