Access to Environmental Information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004(EIR) in relation to a CON29DW Form

Rebecca Stopford made this Environmental Information Regulations request to Wessex Water Services Limited
You only have a right in law to access information about the environment from this authority
This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was partially successful.

Rebecca Stopford

Dear Wessex Water Services Limited,

Access to Environmental Information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004(EIR)
We write in relation to the Decision of the Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) in the case of Fish Legal V Information Commissioner, United Utilities Water plc, Yorkshire Water Services Ltd and the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Upper Tribunal Case Number: GIA/0979/2011.
You will be aware that the decision of the Tribunal is that:
United Utilities plc and Yorkshire Water Services Ltd are public authorities and their responses to Fish Legal’s requests were late.
PSG Connect Limited and its franchisees are involved in obtaining, assessing and collating environmental and other information from a variety of sources, including public authorities, for the purpose of supplying information to legal advisors acting for clients in relation to land and property transfers in England and Wales.
Your company holds and supplies information for the same purpose in the form of the Official Drainage and Water Enquiries for residential and commercial transactions known as form CON29DW, a standard set of 23 Questions.
In light of the decision of the Upper Tribunal referred to above we would be grateful if you could advise us of:
1. What information supplied in form CON29DW you now consider to be Environmental Information as defined under EIR?

2. What information supplied in form CON29DW you do not consider to be Environmental Information as defined under EIR?

3. What arrangements you have, or are planning to put in place to ensure compliance with EIR together with timelines?

4. The process of requesting and obtaining this information under EIR.
We would be grateful a response as soon as possible and in any event within 20 days of receipt of this letter.
We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Rebecca Stopford
PSG Connect Limited

Dave Jones (Env), Wessex Water Services Limited

Dear Rebecca,

I refer to your request for information under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 received by us on the 20^th April 2017 for
the following information:

“Your company holds and supplies information for the same purpose in the
form of the Official Drainage and Water Enquiries for residential and
commercial transactions known as form CON29DW, a standard set of 23
Questions.

In light of the decision of the Upper Tribunal referred to above we would
be grateful if you could advise us of:

1.            What information supplied in form CON29DW you now consider
to be Environmental Information as defined under EIR?

2.            What information supplied in form CON29DW you do not
consider to be Environmental Information as defined under EIR?

3.            What arrangements you have, or are planning to put in place
to ensure compliance with EIR together with timelines?

4.            The process of requesting and obtaining this information
under EIR”.

 

Under the Regulations, Wessex Water has a duty to individuals requesting
information to make that information available on request, unless one of
the exceptions contained within the Regulations applies.    This email
provides the response to your request,

 

To answer each of your questions in turn:

 1. We do not consider this to be a request for "environmental
information" as defined in Regulation 2 of the EIRs.  Further guidance
on the application of the EIRs can be found on the ICO website: 
[1]https://ico.org.uk/.   
 2. We do not consider this to be a request for "environmental
information" as defined in Regulation 2 of the EIRs.  Further guidance
on the application of the EIRs can be found on the ICO website: 
[2]https://ico.org.uk/.
 3. Requests can be made directly to our Environment & Catchment Strategy
Team, who respond to specific requests for environmental information
made under the regulations and who make sure that responses are made
within the timescales set out in legislation through the use of a
spreadsheet based request tracking tool.   Details of the information
we already make available, how to make environmental information
requests, our charging schedule, environmental information we cannot
pass on, how we manage environmental information, contacts and how to
request internal reviews of decisions made by us can be found on our
website at
[3]http://www.wessexwater.co.uk/About-us/En...
  
 4. Full details of how to request information from Wessex Water under the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004 can be found on our website
at
[4]http://www.wessexwater.co.uk/About-us/En...

 

I do hope that this information answers your enquiry, but if I can be of
any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at the
address below. 

 

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request for
environmental information, you may request an internal review.  Internal
review requests should be submitted within 40 working days of the date of
this response and should be addressed to [5][Wessex Water request email]. 
Please note that I will be on leave from Friday 19^th May until Monday
5^th June, so any requests should be sent to
[6][Wessex Water request email].  This process can be used if you want us to
reconsider our conclusion that some of the information that you have
requested is not environmental information.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you may
apply without charge to the Information Commissioner, who will consider
whether we have complied with our obligations under the Environmental
Information Regulations and who will require us to remedy any problems. 
You can find out more about how to do this and about the EIRs in general
on the Information Commissioner’s website at [7]www.ico.org.uk.
 Complaints to the Information Commissioner may be made via the “report a
concern” section of the Information Commissioner’s website.

 

Kindest regards,

Dave Jones MIEnvSc CEnv

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

Regulatory Scientist

Wessex Water - Environment & Catchments Team

 

Regional Operations Centre

Claverton Down

Bath, BA2 7WW

email: [8][email address]

Tel: 01225 52 6000

[9]www.wessexwater.co.uk/environment/

 

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