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Sale of properties to Bolton At Home

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Dear Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council,

In my previous request Re: Sale of properties to Bolton At Home:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/i...

It was stated that the figure paid to acquire the properties was approximately £8.5 million. I would like to know:

1) How many properties did Bolton At Home acquire for this fee?

Their website states that, today, they manage 18,000 properties, with the majority of those being purchased from Bolton Council in 2011. £8.5 million for 18,000 properties equates to a valuation of approximately £470 per property, which is absurd. For that reason I would like to request:

2) Any and all information and/or documents that are available under the FOI act, that pertain to this sale. Information including, but not limited to:

a) Which person(s) negotiated this sale on behalf of the council.
b) Which person(s) were responsible for the valuation.
c) How this valuation was determined.
d) Which person(s) "signed off" on this deal.
e) Any and all information, documents, contracts, records or communication that can be provided in relation to the handling, management, negotiation, valuation and sale of the properties.

Yours faithfully,
Aaron Jackson

Freedom Of Info, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

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your email.

 

This mailbox is primarily used for Freedom of Information (FOI) and
Subject Access Requests (SAR’s) as well as other information requests.

 

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Freedom Of Info, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

1 Attachment

Important:- During this pandemic you may experience understandable delays
when making information requests. Please bear with us during this period.

 

Dear Aaron Jackson,

We acknowledge with thanks your request for information held by Bolton
Council received at this office on 22/04/2022.

This request will be considered under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
/ Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004 as appropriate to your
request.

This may take up to 20 working days to be processed (although we will
endeavour to provide the information as quickly as possible).

Please be advised that if an exemption applies to the information that you
have requested, the statutory period may be exceeded in accordance with
the provisions of the act.

Please retain the reference number RFI 010471 for any future enquiries
regarding this matter.

Many thanks

The Information Governance Team

1^st Floor, Town Hall, Bolton, BL1 1RU

 

 

>>Corporate Logo<<
This e-mail and any attached files are confidential and may also be
legally privileged. They are intended solely for the intended addressee.
If you are not the addressee please e-mail it back to the sender and then
immediately, permanently delete it. Do not read, print, re-transmit, store
or act in reliance on it. This e-mail may be monitored by Bolton Council
in accordance with current regulations.

This footnote also confirms that this e-mail message has been swept for
the presence of computer viruses currently known to Bolton Council.
However, the recipient is responsible for virus-checking before opening
this message and any attachment.

Unless expressly stated to the contrary, any views expressed in this
message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect
the views of Bolton Council.

http://www.bolton.gov.uk/

Freedom Of Info, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

010471/00196170

 

Dear Aaron Jackson

Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
In response to your request for information received at this office on 22
April 2022, please see the council’s response below.

You requested
In my previous request Re: Sale of properties to Bolton At Home It was
stated that the figure paid to acquire the properties was approximately
£8.5 million. I would like to know:

1)  How many properties did Bolton At Home acquire for this fee?

Their website states that, today, they manage 18,000 properties, with the
majority of those being purchased from Bolton Council in 2011. £8.5
million for 18,000 properties equates to a valuation of approximately £470
per property, which is absurd. For that reason I would like to request:

2)  Any and all information and/or documents that are available under the
FOI act, that pertain to this sale. Information including, but not limited
to:

  a) Which person(s) negotiated this sale on behalf of the council.

  b) Which person(s) were responsible for the valuation.

  c) How this valuation was determined.

  d) Which person(s) "signed off" on this deal.

  e) Any and all information, documents, contracts, records or
communication that can be provided in relation to the handling,
management, negotiation, valuation and sale of the properties.

 

Our response
Under the Act, Bolton Council has a duty to supply any information it
holds on request, unless there is an exemption. It is the Council’s policy
only to apply the exemptions where there is a genuine risk of harm or
prejudice. Section 17 of the Act provides that when refusing a request,
Bolton Council must provide a notice which (a) states that fact, (b)
specifies the exemption in question, and (c) states (if that would not
otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

• We consider that the exemption under section 43 (2) of the Act applies
to the information requested. Section 43(2) of the Act states that
information is exempt if its disclosure is likely to prejudice the
commercial interest of any person (including the public authority
holding it).  We believe that businesses (including the one in
detailed in your request) should be allowed to carry out their
functions freely and effectively without the possibility of
unnecessary disclosure of their contractual information.

 

In applying this exemption we have had to balance the public interest in
withholding the information against the public interest in disclosure.

 

The Council has concluded that the public interest test favours
non-disclosure because although disclosure of this information would

·       Increase access to information held by the authority, and allow
scrutiny of the public authority’s decisions.

·       Enhance the scrutiny of the authority

·       Contribute to public debate on the issue.

·       Increase public participation in decision making/council processes

·       Increase accountability for the spending of public money and
upholding standards of integrity and securing the best use of public
resources.

·       Enhance transparency of local authority actions and activities –
ensuring justice and fair treatment for all

 

It would also prejudice the following:

·       The information being requested is commercially confidential to
the Council and the relevant business and release of the information would
be likely to prejudice commercial interests of the council and/or the
relevant business.

·       It would prejudice the commercial interests of the authority to
disclose the information sought.

·       The disclosure of the information could prejudice the ability of
the authority to preserve public money.

 

In conclusion, we are of the opinion that the balance of public interest
favours non-disclosure of this information in all circumstances of the
case at this time.

 

• In addition to the above, even if this information was disclosable, it
is not held in a reportable format. The only way of extracting this
information would require officers across several teams to manually
interrogate old Council records and supporting documentation to
extract the requested information. It is estimated the manual
investigation, retrieval and extraction of this information would
exceed the appropriate limit. As per Regulation 4(3) of the Fees
Regulations, when estimating the cost of compliance, the council can
take into account the cost of the following activities

• Determine if we hold the information
• finding the requested information, or records containing the
information;
• retrieving the information or records; and
• extracting the requested information from records

 

To answer your request officers from several teams would need to manually
review records for every property to retrieve the requested information.

It has been estimated the work required to locate, extract and compile
this information would significantly exceed the appropriate limit.
Therefore, in accordance with section 12(1) of the Act, on this occasion,
the council has decided to exempt itself, from complying with your request
as the cost incurred in providing a response would exceed the appropriate
limit of £450, which is equivalent to requests that would require more
than 18 hours continuous work.

 

As the council is withholding the requested information as detailed above
under section 12 please accept this letter as a refusal notice issued in
accordance with section 17 of the Act.

As per the Information Commissioners Office’s Freedom of Information Code
of Practice, should you disagree with our decision, you may appeal within
40 working days of this email to:
The Borough Solicitor, Bolton Council, Town Hall, Bolton, BL1 1RU
Email [1][email address]

Should you further disagree with the decision following the appeal you may
wish to contact the Information Commissioner:
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
[2]www.ico.org.uk
Tel: 01625 545700, Fax: 01625 524510

Should you have any queries, please contact 
[3][email address]

Yours sincerely,

Information Governance Team

Chief Executive’s Department

1^st Floor, Town Hall, Bolton, BL1 1RU

 

>>Corporate Logo<<
This e-mail and any attached files are confidential and may also be
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If you are not the addressee please e-mail it back to the sender and then
immediately, permanently delete it. Do not read, print, re-transmit, store
or act in reliance on it. This e-mail may be monitored by Bolton Council
in accordance with current regulations.

This footnote also confirms that this e-mail message has been swept for
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However, the recipient is responsible for virus-checking before opening
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Unless expressly stated to the contrary, any views expressed in this
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the views of Bolton Council.

http://www.bolton.gov.uk/

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Dear Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Sale of properties to Bolton At Home'.

I'm very disappointed that Bolton Council have refused this request. Especially considering the 6 excellent points Bolton Council recognised in favour of releasing this information. It would:

· Increase access to information held by the authority, and allow
scrutiny of the public authority’s decisions.

· Enhance the scrutiny of the authority

· Contribute to public debate on the issue.

· Increase public participation in decision making/council processes

· Increase accountability for the spending of public money and
upholding standards of integrity and securing the best use of public
resources.

· Enhance transparency of local authority actions and activities –
ensuring justice and fair treatment for all

Unfortunately, I'm very disappointed that these 6 excellent reasons to disclose the information have been discarded, with the 3 reasons for non disclosure taking a higher precedent. Whats worse is, the first 2 reasons are exactly the same reasons, simply worded slightly differently:

· The information being requested is commercially confidential to
the Council and the relevant business and release of the information would
be likely to PREJUDICE COMMERCIAL INTERESTS of the council and/or the
relevant business.

· It would PREJUDICE COMMERCIAL INTERESTS of the authority to
disclose the information sought.

Both of those reasons state that release would "prejudice commercial interests". So, in fact, BMBC have only 2 reasons for non disclosure. However, the third reason stated for non-disclousure is:

· The disclosure of the information could prejudice the ability of
the authority to preserve public money.

This is quite ridiculous. Because the whole point of this FOI request is to investigate the loss of hundreds of millions of pounds of public money.

So, remaining, is only 1 single reason for non disclosure - because disclosure could: "prejudice commercial interests".

I would like to offer a seventh excellent reason in favour of the disclosure of the documents:

Because Bolton Council has sold 18,000 social housing properties to a private organisation, for a gross and absurdly low amount (£470 each). This has undoubtedly cost Bolton Council and it's constituents many hundreds of millions of pounds.

For that reason it is absolutely vital and in the utmost interest of the people of Bolton, that this travesty be investigated.

The cost to collate the required documents pales in significance to the unbelievable amount of money that has undoubtedly been lost in this deal. The small cost to collate these documents cannot and should not bear more weight than uncovering what has gone wrong in this unbelievable deal, which has surely cost Bolton hundreds of millions pounds.

Seeing as the ex-head of Bolton Council, who must surely have overseen this deal, (Gemma Parlby) was later given the top job at Bolton At Home as their "Director of Housing and Customer Services" and another high ranking BC employee (Jon Lord) has gone on to become Bolton At Home's CEO, it's very possible that there has been underhanded, illegal activity conducted by these people, which resulted in Bolton At Home acquiring the properties for this ridiculous fee. It's possible that these people may need to face criminal charges.

All of these reasons cannot and should not be outweighed by the "commercial interests" of Bolton Council.

Finally, if, somehow, the above reasons are not sufficient to convince BC it is necessary to release the documents. I will make it even easier for BC to do so: I will vastly reduce my request, so that it will take far less time and involve far less departments. I will reduce my request to only:

1) How many properties did Bolton At Home acquire for the £8.5m fee?
2) Which person(s) negotiated this sale on behalf of the council?
3) How was the valuation determined?

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

Yours faithfully,

Aaron Jackson

Freedom Of Info, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

This is only an automated message and confirmation that we have received
your email.

 

This mailbox is primarily used for Freedom of Information (FOI) and
Subject Access Requests (SAR’s) as well as other information requests.

 

Further information can be found at
[1]https://www.bolton.gov.uk/data-protectio...

 

Your email will be processed shortly.

 

Coronavirus (COVID-19) update

Due to the current Coronavirus outbreak you may experience delays when
making information rights requests. Please bear with us during this
period.

>>Corporate Logo<<
This e-mail and any attached files are confidential and may also be
legally privileged. They are intended solely for the intended addressee.
If you are not the addressee please e-mail it back to the sender and then
immediately, permanently delete it. Do not read, print, re-transmit, store
or act in reliance on it. This e-mail may be monitored by Bolton Council
in accordance with current regulations.

This footnote also confirms that this e-mail message has been swept for
the presence of computer viruses currently known to Bolton Council.
However, the recipient is responsible for virus-checking before opening
this message and any attachment.

Unless expressly stated to the contrary, any views expressed in this
message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect
the views of Bolton Council.

http://www.bolton.gov.uk/

References

Visible links
1. https://www.bolton.gov.uk/data-protectio...

Freedom Of Info, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Aaron Jackson,

 

Further to your email received at this office on 24/05/2022, we
acknowledge with thanks your request for an internal review.

 

The matter will be processed as an internal review and a response will be
provided by the Council’s Monitoring Officer outlining her decision in due
course.

 

Kind regards

 

The Information Governance Team

1^st Floor, Town Hall, Bolton, BL1 1RU

 

 

 

>>Corporate Logo<<
This e-mail and any attached files are confidential and may also be
legally privileged. They are intended solely for the intended addressee.
If you are not the addressee please e-mail it back to the sender and then
immediately, permanently delete it. Do not read, print, re-transmit, store
or act in reliance on it. This e-mail may be monitored by Bolton Council
in accordance with current regulations.

This footnote also confirms that this e-mail message has been swept for
the presence of computer viruses currently known to Bolton Council.
However, the recipient is responsible for virus-checking before opening
this message and any attachment.

Unless expressly stated to the contrary, any views expressed in this
message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect
the views of Bolton Council.

http://www.bolton.gov.uk/

m stevens left an annotation ()

With the money they had to invest it worked out appropriately 18grand per house.

Dear BC

Your response to my request for an internal review is long overdue.

Please provide an explanation.

Yours sincerely,

Aaron Jackson

Freedom Of Info, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

This is only an automated message and confirmation that we have received
your email.

 

This mailbox is primarily used for Freedom of Information (FOI) and
Subject Access Requests (SAR’s) as well as other information requests.

 

Further information can be found at
[1]https://www.bolton.gov.uk/data-protectio...

 

Your email will be processed shortly.

 

Coronavirus (COVID-19) update

Due to the current Coronavirus outbreak you may experience delays when
making information rights requests. Please bear with us during this
period.

>>Corporate Logo<<
This e-mail and any attached files are confidential and may also be
legally privileged. They are intended solely for the intended addressee.
If you are not the addressee please e-mail it back to the sender and then
immediately, permanently delete it. Do not read, print, re-transmit, store
or act in reliance on it. This e-mail may be monitored by Bolton Council
in accordance with current regulations.

This footnote also confirms that this e-mail message has been swept for
the presence of computer viruses currently known to Bolton Council.
However, the recipient is responsible for virus-checking before opening
this message and any attachment.

Unless expressly stated to the contrary, any views expressed in this
message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect
the views of Bolton Council.

http://www.bolton.gov.uk/

References

Visible links
1. https://www.bolton.gov.uk/data-protectio...

Dear Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council,

Where is the response to my request for an internal review which was sent to you on 24th June?

Aaron Jackson

Freedom Of Info, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

This is only an automated message and confirmation that we have received
your email.

 

This mailbox is primarily used for Freedom of Information (FOI) and
Subject Access Requests (SAR’s) as well as other information requests.

 

Further information can be found at
[1]https://www.bolton.gov.uk/data-protectio...

 

Your email will be processed shortly.

 

Coronavirus (COVID-19) update

Due to the current Coronavirus outbreak you may experience delays when
making information rights requests. Please bear with us during this
period.

>>Corporate Logo<<
This e-mail and any attached files are confidential and may also be
legally privileged. They are intended solely for the intended addressee.
If you are not the addressee please e-mail it back to the sender and then
immediately, permanently delete it. Do not read, print, re-transmit, store
or act in reliance on it. This e-mail may be monitored by Bolton Council
in accordance with current regulations.

This footnote also confirms that this e-mail message has been swept for
the presence of computer viruses currently known to Bolton Council.
However, the recipient is responsible for virus-checking before opening
this message and any attachment.

Unless expressly stated to the contrary, any views expressed in this
message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect
the views of Bolton Council.

http://www.bolton.gov.uk/

References

Visible links
1. https://www.bolton.gov.uk/data-protectio...

Freedom Of Info, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Aaron Jackson,

 

Please find attached the response to the internal review for 010471.

 

Kind regards

 

The Information Governance Team

Room 120, 1^st Floor, Town Hall, Bolton, BL1 1RU

 

 

 

>>Corporate Logo<<
This e-mail and any attached files are confidential and may also be
legally privileged. They are intended solely for the intended addressee.
If you are not the addressee please e-mail it back to the sender and then
immediately, permanently delete it. Do not read, print, re-transmit, store
or act in reliance on it. This e-mail may be monitored by Bolton Council
in accordance with current regulations.

This footnote also confirms that this e-mail message has been swept for
the presence of computer viruses currently known to Bolton Council.
However, the recipient is responsible for virus-checking before opening
this message and any attachment.

Unless expressly stated to the contrary, any views expressed in this
message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect
the views of Bolton Council.

http://www.bolton.gov.uk/

DPO, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr. Jackson

 

Please see copy of a letter sent to the ICO in connection with your
complaint to them.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Data Protection Officer

First Floor, Bolton Town Hall, Victoria Square, Bolton, BL1 1RU

 

 

Advance Annual Leave notice:  21 November

 

>>Corporate Logo<<
This e-mail and any attached files are confidential and may also be
legally privileged. They are intended solely for the intended addressee.
If you are not the addressee please e-mail it back to the sender and then
immediately, permanently delete it. Do not read, print, re-transmit, store
or act in reliance on it. This e-mail may be monitored by Bolton Council
in accordance with current regulations.

This footnote also confirms that this e-mail message has been swept for
the presence of computer viruses currently known to Bolton Council.
However, the recipient is responsible for virus-checking before opening
this message and any attachment.

Unless expressly stated to the contrary, any views expressed in this
message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect
the views of Bolton Council.

http://www.bolton.gov.uk/

We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Aaron Jackson please sign in and let everyone know.