Southwark Council - Information request

Our reference: 2573281

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Slattery,

Thank you for your request for information, which we received on 26 April
2021.

Your request: [1]2573281

Please provide me with a copy of all email communications between the
Council and its development partner (Notting Hill Genesis) relating to the
redevelopment of the Aylesbury estate during the last 12 months.

Your request has been considered under the Environmental Information
Regulations (EIR) 2004. The information requested is ‘environmental
information’ as it meets the definition set out in regulation 2 (1) of the
EIR.

Under Regulation 14 of the EIR this letter acts as a refusal notice for
the information requested, as whilst this information is held by Southwark
Council, we consider the cost of compliance with the request is too great
and would cause an unjustified level of disruption. We apply regulation 12
(4) (b) of the EIR as the request for information is ‘manifestly
unreasonable’.

For further information on the application of Regulation 12 exceptions can
be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website:
[2]https://ico.org.uk/media/1615/manifestly...

Having carefully considered the guidance from the ICO on this matter, it
is our view that complying with your request would impose a wholly
disproportionate and unjustified level of disruption on the council. We
estimate that the time taken to collate all of the data you are seeking
would significantly exceed 18 hours.

In applying this exception, we have balanced the public in withholding the
information against the public interest in disclosure. We acknowledge that
there may be a public interest in information relating to the council’s
collaboration with the organisation on the regeneration of Aylesbury
Estate. However, we estimate there would be thousands of emails exchanged
between the council and the organisation during the specified period in
relation to the redevelopment of the estate.  

We therefore consider the request in this case would result in a cost of
compliance that is too great. The burden that would place on us as a
public authority in complying with your request would be wholly
disproportionate to any public benefit that might be gained from the
information being obtained.

As such, we consider the public interest in favour of maintaining the
exception strongly outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the
information, and that we are entitled to refuse your request.

Should you, however, reformulate and narrow your request to a specific
aspect you are seeking information for, we would consider your request
again. Please also note that any reformulated request we receive from you
will be treated as a fresh EIR request.

I trust that the above clarifies the Authority’s position.

Your rights

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. You should request this review within
two months of receiving this response, by contacting
[3][Southwark Borough Council request email]. Please remember to quote the reference
number above in any future communications.

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 her within
two months of the outcome of the internal review. Further information on
the Freedom of Information Act is available through the Information
Commissioner’s website at [4]www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely,

Martyna Plewniak

Senior Information Officer

[5][IMG] [6][IMG]
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. http://lbs-icw-01.lbsouthwark.ad.southwa...
2. https://ico.org.uk/media/1615/manifestly...
3. mailto:[Southwark Borough Council request email]
4. http://www.ico.org.uk/
5. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronaviru...
6. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronaviru...

Southwark Council - Information request

Our reference: 2665401

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Slattery,

Thank you for your request for information, which we received on 16 June
2021.

Your request: 2665401

In line with your request that I narrow the parameters of my FOI request,
please provide me with all communications between the Council and Notting
Hill Genesis regarding the Aylesbury estate during the last 6 months.

Your request has been considered under the Environmental Information
Regulations (EIR) 2004. The information requested is ‘environmental
information’ as it meets the definition set out in regulation 2 (1) of the
EIR.

Having consider your request again and reduced time frames for the
information requested, our view is that Regulation 12 (4) (c) of the EIR -
the request for information is formulated in too general a manner and the
public authority has complied with regulation 9; applies in this instance.

For further information on the application of Regulation 12 exceptions can
be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website:
[1]https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

Please note that in the last six months, we will have exchanged
correspondence with Notting Hill Genesis over a really broad range of
subject matter and across numerous council departments, for example:

·            Housing and Regeneration about the four separate live
construction sites,

·            Planning, Legal and Highways with regards to two live
pre-/application sites as well as regarding the four existing sites,

·            Housing and Regeneration in relation to resident moves and
estate management issues

·            Regeneration regarding governance of the development
agreement and legal and commercial negotiations about a variation to it
etc. and many other issues beyond these. 

Therefore, we require further clarification about what specific aspect of
or site within the Aylesbury Estate you are interested to enable us to
comply with your request.

Your rights

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. You should request this review within
two months of receiving this response, by contacting
[2][Southwark Borough Council request email]. Please remember to quote the reference
number above in any future communications.

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 her within
two months of the outcome of the internal review. Further information on
the Freedom of Information Act is available through the Information
Commissioner’s website at [3]www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely,

Martyna Plewniak

Senior Information Officer

[4][IMG] [5][IMG]
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. https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...
2. mailto:[Southwark Borough Council request email]
3. http://www.ico.org.uk/
4. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronaviru...
5. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronaviru...