Dear M.C.Paul,
Re: Your request for information: 427120

I would like you to provide me with the 2nd Economic Viability Study that
was submitted by Berkley Homes in order to support the amended planning
proposals for 1 Blackfriars.

As the development is already being built and marketed and the planning
application is historic, there should not be any issues with commercial
sensitivity. Similarly, the viability appraisal software that was used was
off-the-shelf as opposed to a bespoke model, again negating any commercial
sensitivity.

Your request is being dealt with under Environmental Information
Regulation.
The Regulations allow us 20 working days to respond to your request from
the date of its receipt.  However, it is occasionally necessary to extend
the 20 working day time limit for issuing a response.  In this case, I
regret that we must extend the time limit for responding by 7 working days
because of the complexity of the request.

I hope to let you have a response by 30 September 2014 and will keep you
informed of any further delay.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make an appeal for a review of our decision, please
write to the:

Corporate Freedom of Information Manager
Financial & Information Governance team (2^nd Floor)
PO Box 64529
London
SE1P 5LX
Email: [1][Southwark Borough Council request email]
If you are not content with the outcome of your appeal, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.  Generally, the
Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have first
exhausted our internal appeal procedure and you should contact him within
2 months of the outcome of your internal appeal.

Further information on the Freedom of Information Act is available through
the Information Commissioner at the:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Internet: [2]www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely,

Martyna Plewniak
System information project officer

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ico.org.uk/

Dear M.C.Paul,
Re: Your request for information: 427120

I would like you to provide me with the 2nd Economic Viability Study that
was submitted by Berkley Homes in order to support the amended planning
proposals for 1 Blackfriars.

As the development is already being built and marketed and the planning
application is historic, there should not be any issues with commercial
sensitivity. Similarly, the viability appraisal software that was used was
off-the-shelf as opposed to a bespoke model, again negating any commercial
sensitivity.

Your request is being dealt with under Environmental Information
Regulation.
The Regulations allow us 20 working days to respond to your request from
the date of its receipt.  However, it is occasionally necessary to extend
the 20 working day time limit for issuing a response. Please note we are
considering an exception which is subject to the public interest test and
we need a further 10 working days to consider where the balance of that
test lies. Therefore we plan to let you have a response by 17 October
2014.  If it appears that it will take longer than this to reach a
conclusion, we will keep you informed.

I apologies for the inconvenience it may have caused.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make an appeal for a review of our decision, please
write to the:

Corporate Freedom of Information Manager
Financial & Information Governance team (2^nd Floor)
PO Box 64529
London
SE1P 5LX
Email: [1][Southwark Borough Council request email]
If you are not content with the outcome of your appeal, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.  Generally, the
Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have first
exhausted our internal appeal procedure and you should contact him within
2 months of the outcome of your internal appeal.

Further information on the Freedom of Information Act is available through
the Information Commissioner at the:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Internet: [2]www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely,

Martyna Plewniak
System information project officer

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ico.org.uk/

Dear M.C Paul,

Re: Your request for information: 427120

Thank you for your request for information that was received on 26 August
2014 in which you requested:

I would like you to provide me with the 2nd Economic Viability Study that
was submitted by Berkley Homes in order to support the amended planning
proposals for 1 Blackfriars.

As the development is already being built and marketed and the planning
application is historic, there should not be any issues with commercial
sensitivity. Similarly, the viability appraisal software that was used was
off-the-shelf as opposed to a bespoke model, again negating any commercial
sensitivity.

Please accept out apologies for the delay that occurred in responding to
your request.

Your request has been dealt under the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004.

Please note since the information requested related to information
provided by a third party, the council notified them of this request and
offered them the opportunity to discuss any particular issues or concerns
that they considered relevant to the question of disclosure of this
information before the council decided whether or not to release the
information.  However, although the council is obliged to offer the third
party this opportunity, the decision on whether to release any information
lies ultimately with the council. Having now fully considered this
request, the council has made a decision to provide you with a redacted
copy of viability study for 1 Blackfriars.

<<141016 part 2.pdf>>

Please note that wherever the information is redacted the information is
withheld in line with exception 12(5)(e) under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004,   where disclosure would adversely affect or
be very likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the council and /
or any third party

Reliance upon an exemption under the EIR is always subject to the
requirement under Regulation 12(1)(b)  that the public interest in
maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing the
information.

In this instance, the council asserts that the public interest in
providing this information does not out weigh the likely prejudice to
commercial and economic interests of both the council and the third party.

In arriving at this view, the council has considered the following factors
both for and against the release of information.

Factors in favour of release:

* Regulation 5 of the Environmental Information Regulations states where
a public authority holds environmental information; it shall make it
available on request and, as a starting point, the council is required
to apply a presumption in favour of disclosure.

Factors in favour of withholding:
* The fact that the information sets out commercial assumptions and
calculations applied by the third party, which if disclosed would
adversely affect the council’s and third party’s economic interests as
well as placing the third party at a competitive disadvantage in any
future development opportunity
* The fact that within the viability assessment received from the third
party was done so on the understanding that this information would
remain confidential and the council have agreed to maintain the
confidentiality of all such information provided by the third party
(please note, the council acknowledges this is a consideration only
and does not confer the right of absolute confidentiality under EIR
legislation)
* The fact that when releasing information under the legislation it is
considered releasing information to the public as a whole however,
subsequent to this, both parties have a right to negotiate for the
best economic outcome of this or any development free from external
prejudice and potential competitive scrutiny
* The fact that the third party will have an ongoing interest in this
site and should the calculations, analyses and assessments be
released, it is very likely to prejudice any future negotiations, such
as disposals and sub-lettings, in relation to this development which
will be very detrimental to the competitive negotiating position of
the third party and, subsequently, prejudice the viability of the
development as a whole
* The fact that to reveal this information would be likely to put the
third party at a competitive disadvantage in the future against rival
developers in similar markets

It is therefore the council’s assertion that the factors in favour of
withholding this very sensitive commercial information outweigh the
factors in favour of release and therefore, in accordance with Regulation
14 of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 this letter acts as a
Refusal Notice.

Please also note that due to a large size of this document we will require
to send it into a few separate emails. Should you wish to have it posted
all instead, please provide us with an address and we will do so.

 If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make an appeal for a review of our decision, you
should write to the Corporate Freedom of Information Manager at:

Corporate Freedom of Information Officer
The Governance Team (2^nd floor)
PO Box 64529
London
SE1P 5LX
Email: [1][Southwark Borough Council request email]
If you are not content with the outcome of your appeal, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have first
exhausted our internal appeal procedure and you should contact him within
2 months of the outcome of your internal appeal.

Further information on the Freedom of Information Act is available through
the Information Commissioner at the:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Internet: [2]www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely,

Martyna Plewniak
System information project officer

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

Dear Mr Paul M.C

Please note this last attachment completed the whole study, although the
last two emails contain attachments with the very first chapters of the
study.

<<141021 part 1 attachment 2.pdf>>

I hope this comes of assistance

Kind regards,

Martyna Plewniak

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

Dear M.C Paul,

Apologies for this. It has been rectified now.

Regards,

Martyna Plewniak

show quoted sections

[Subject only] RE: Environmental Information Regulations request - 427120

show quoted sections

Dear M.C Paul,
 
Re: Your request for information: 427120
 
Thank you for your request for information that was received on 26 August
2014 in which you requested:
 
I would like you to provide me with the 2nd Economic Viability Study that
was submitted by Berkley Homes in order to support the amended planning
proposals for 1 Blackfriars.
As the development is already being built and marketed and the planning
application is historic, there should not be any issues with commercial
sensitivity. Similarly, the viability appraisal software that was used was
off-the-shelf as opposed to a bespoke model, again negating any commercial
sensitivity.
 
 
Please accept out apologies for the delay that occurred in responding to
your request.  This was purely an oversight on my part. While I forwarded
a redacted version of the entire study to you in a number of emails in
October I did not realise at the time that I had not provided you with
this response in the first instance.
 
Your request has been dealt under the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004.
 
 
Please note since the information requested related to information
provided by a third party, the council notified them of this request and
offered them the opportunity to discuss any particular issues or concerns
that they considered relevant to the question of disclosure of this
information before the council decided whether or not to release the
information.  However, although the council is obliged to offer the third
party this opportunity, the decision on whether to release any information
lies ultimately with the council. Having now fully considered this
request, the council has made a decision to provide you with a redacted
copy of viability study for 1 Blackfriars.
 
 
 
Please note that wherever the information is redacted the information is
withheld in line with exception 12(5)(e) under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004,   where disclosure would adversely affect or
be very likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the council and /
or any third party
 
Reliance upon an exemption under the EIR is always subject to the
requirement under Regulation 12(1)(b)  that the public interest in
maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing the
information.
 
In this instance, the council asserts that the public interest in
providing this information does not out weigh the likely prejudice to
commercial and economic interests of both the council and the third party.
 
In arriving at this view, the council has considered the following factors
both for and against the release of information.
 
Factors in favour of release:

* Regulation 5 of the Environmental Information Regulations states where
a public authority holds environmental information; it shall make it
available on request and, as a starting point, the council is required
to apply a presumption in favour of disclosure.

 
Factors in favour of withholding:

* The fact that the information sets out commercial assumptions and
calculations applied by the third party, which if disclosed would
adversely affect the council’s and third party’s economic interests as
well as placing the third party at a competitive disadvantage in any
future development opportunity
* The fact that within the viability assessment received from the third
party was done so on the understanding that this information would
remain confidential and the council have agreed to maintain the
confidentiality of all such information provided by the third party
(please note, the council acknowledges this is a consideration only
and does not confer the right of absolute confidentiality under EIR
legislation)
* The fact that when releasing information under the legislation it is
considered releasing information to the public as a whole however,
subsequent to this, both parties have a right to negotiate for the
best economic outcome of this or any development free from external
prejudice and potential competitive scrutiny
* The fact that the third party will have an ongoing interest in this
site and should the calculations, analyses and assessments be
released, it is very likely to prejudice any future negotiations, such
as disposals and sub-lettings, in relation to this development which
will be very detrimental to the competitive negotiating position of
the third party and, subsequently, prejudice the viability of the
development as a whole
* The fact that to reveal this information would be likely to put the
third party at a competitive disadvantage in the future against rival
developers in similar markets

 
It is therefore the council’s assertion that the factors in favour of
withholding this very sensitive commercial information outweigh the
factors in favour of release and therefore, in accordance with Regulation
14 of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 this letter acts as a
Refusal Notice.
 
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make an appeal for a review of our decision, you
should write to the Corporate Freedom of Information Manager at:
Corporate Freedom of Information Officer
The Governance Team (2^nd floor)
PO Box 64529
London
SE1P 5LX
Email: [1][Southwark Borough Council request email]
If you are not content with the outcome of your appeal, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have first
exhausted our internal appeal procedure and you should contact him within
2 months of the outcome of your internal appeal.
Further information on the Freedom of Information Act is available through
the Information Commissioner at the:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Internet: [2]www.ico.org.uk
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Martyna Plewniak
System information project officer
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this in error please notify us immediately. If you
are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for
delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it
for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may
be unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not
necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not
responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/