Collected Waste Data CEC for Financial Year 2017 - 2018 (01 April 2017 to 31 March 2018).

The request was refused by Cheshire East Council.

Dear Cheshire East Council,

Request for information made under the EIR Act 2004.

Please find my request for information on Cheshire East Council Local Authority Collected Waste for Financial Year 2017 - 2018 (01 April 2017 to 31 March 2018). The specific data I require will show each of the following totals:

a) Household dry recycling/reuse (tonnes)
b) Household green recycling/reuse (tonnes)
c) Household - waste not sent for recycling (tonnes)

d) Non-household - waste sent for recycling/composting/reuse (tonnes)
e) Non-household - waste not sent for recycling (tonnes)

The definitions for 'a-e' are exactly the same definitions that CEC used when it compiled the following report - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistica...

Yours faithfully,

Harry Random

CCR FOI Investigation Team, Cheshire East Council

Date: 15 June 2018
Our Reference: 3028133
 
Dear Mr Random
 
Environmental Information Regulations 2004
 
Thank you for your request regarding Collected Waste Data for Financial
Year 2017 - 2018.
 
Your request has been identified as falling within the scope
of Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and as such is exempt from
the Freedom of Information Act 2000, under Section 39 of the Act.

As when responding to an FOI request, we will send you a full response
within 20 working days, either supplying you with the information you
require, or explaining to you why we cannot supply it. However, under the
EIR Act, the provision exists to extend the response time to 40 working
days, if the request is felt to be particularly complex or voluminous.
Should this be the case, we will of course notify you in good time. 

The due date is 13 July 2018.
 
If we need any further clarification or there is a problem, we will be in
touch. 

In the meantime if you wish to discuss this further please contact me. It
would be helpful if you could quote the reference number quoted above.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
Kate Tomlinson
Compliance and Customer Relations Assistant
Cheshire East Council
 
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.

CCR FOI Investigation Team, Cheshire East Council

1 Attachment

Date: 3 July 2018
Our Reference: 3028133
 
Dear Mr Random
 
Thank you for your request for information received on 15 June 2018.
 
Please find attached our response to your request.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
Gill Clowes
Customer Relations and Compliance Assistant
Cheshire East Council
 
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.

Dear Cheshire East Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Cheshire East Council's handling of my FOI request 'Collected Waste Data CEC for Financial Year 2017 - 2018 (01 April 2017 to 31 March 2018).'.
Cheshire East Council have logged my request and given it reference No 3028133.

Gill Clowes recently wrote to me stating that my request had been refused for the following reasons:

Factors in favour of withholding.

"The tables for the data you have requested are not available until the end of November/early December when the Environment Agency have fully evaluated and approved them. It should also be acknowledged that public authorities should have the necessary space to think in private. To this end, public authorities will be entitled to refuse access if the request concerns material in the course of completion."

"It is considered that the greater public interest therefore lies in not providing the information at this time. In coming to that conclusion, the public interest in providing the information has been carefully weighed against any prejudice to the public interest that might arise from withholding the information; in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information."

"This response therefore acts as a refusal notice under regulation 14 of the Environmental Information Regulations."

My Appeal challenging the points above:

I wish to point out that my request was only for the raw data and at no point did I request to be provided with any data tables. Whilst I understand that at sometime in the future the data I have requested might be used by CEC and the Environment Agency to produce a specific data table any future data table is not my concern. In my request I referred to a specific data table produced by the Environment Agency in order that Cheshire East Council would be crystal clear on the definitions for the information that I require.

The information I have asked you to provide is data that was compiled and recorded by CEC/Ansa over 3 months ago and as such it is a matter of record and should not be subject to change. CEC/Ansa have already had between 3 and 6 months to view these recorded waste collection totals so CEC stating it needs "necessary space to think in private" is at best another very lame excuse for not providing the information.

Ansa Environmental Services Ltd have produced Financial Statements for the period ended 31 March 2018 and they have already been released to the public. The fact that the data in the Ansa Financial Statements will be used in future tables say for example in an end of year report hasn't been a reason for Ansa to try and withhold this information from the public. Therefore in exactly the same way there is no reason why the information I want should be withheld by Cheshire East Council.

Let me be clear that there is ABSOLUTELY NO PREJUDICE TO THE PUBLIC INTEREST if this information is released immediately because there is actually a very strong and obvious general public interest in seeing this important environmental information. The CEC press department has been very busy recently supplying the media with press releases announcing "a £7m state-of-the-art in-vessel composting facility along with associated aerated static pile composting, screening and blending operations at the council-owned site in Leighton Grange, near Crewe" which will be operated by Biowise and "will have a licence to manage 75,000 tonnes of food waste across Cheshire East." Therefore the failure of CEC to provide the information I have requested can be viewed as CEC continuing to display its characteristic lack of transparency and presumably in an attempt to stifle public debate on this very important particular environmental issue.

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

I look forward to receiving this information without any further unnecessary delay by CEC.

Yours faithfully,

Harry Random

CCR FOI Investigation Team, Cheshire East Council

Date: 4 July 2018
Our Reference: 3028133
 
Dear Mr Random
 
Thank you for your request for a review received on 4 July 2018. I am
sorry that you are dissatisfied with our attempts to handle your request
under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004
 
I can confirm that we are considering your concerns and we will aim to
provide you with a response by 1 August 2018.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
Gill Clowes
Customer Relations and Compliance Assistant
Cheshire East Council
 
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.

CCR FOI Investigation Team, Cheshire East Council

1 Attachment

Date: 10 July 2018
Our Reference: 3028133
 
Mr Random -
 
Please find attached the response to the Internal Review Request.
Yours sincerely
 
 
Helen Sweeney
Senior Compliance and Customer Relations Officer
Cheshire East Council