Correspondence with Alumno

The request was refused by Colchester Borough Council.

Dear Colchester Borough Council,
Please could you supply copies of all correspondence between Colchester Borough Council and its subsididiary companies with Alumno Holdings and its subsidiary companies which relate to the redevelopment of the old Bus Station off Queen Street, Colchester

Yours faithfully,
Ian Cropton

Info, Colchester Borough Council

Dear Mr Cropton,

 

Thank you for contacting Colchester Borough Council requesting information
regarding Correspondence with Alumno.

 

Your request has been logged under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
2000 with the reference above. An officer is reviewing your request and
will respond accordingly. 

  

You can find advice and guidance about accessing information from public
bodies from the Information Commissioner’s Office at
[1]www.ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/official-information

 

Many thanks,

 

Customer Information 

Colchester Borough Council 

[2][Colchester Borough Council request email]

[3]https://www.colchester.gov.uk/info

 

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Dear Colchester Borough Council,
this FOI is now past its deadline. I await your response as soon as possible, please

Yours sincerely,

Ian Cropton

Info, Colchester Borough Council

16 Attachments

Dear Mr Cropton,

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request regarding
ccorrespondence between Colchester Borough Council, it subsidiary
companies and Alumno.

 

I can confirm that we hold this information. Please find copies of all
correspondence between Colchester Borough Council and Alumno attached.

 

With regards to Amphora Trading’s involvement with Alumno, Colchester
Borough Council can confirm that discussions have taken place between
Colchester Borough Council and Alumno.  However, the details of these
discussions and all correspondence are deemed commercially sensitive and
therefore confidential as they still form part of an ongoing commercial
negotiation. This part of your request is therefore exempt under S43 (2)
Commercial Interests.

Commercial Interests Section 43(2) provides an exemption from disclosure
where to release information would, or would be likely to prejudice the
commercial interests of any party (including the Public Authority holding
it). Disclosure of the requested information could prejudice pending or
future negotiations the Council may be subject to.

 

If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this request,
please contact [1][Colchester Borough Council request email] quoting the reference number
above.

 

Your right to request a review

 

If you are unhappy with our response to your request for information, we
have an internal review process . The internal review will be carried out
by our Monitoring Officer who will assess how your request was handled.

 

If you wish to request an internal review, please send an email to the
Monitoring Officer at [2][Colchester Borough Council request email] or by post to: Monitoring
Officer, Colchester Borough Council, Rowan House, Colchester CO3 3WG. Your
review request should detail why you are unhappy with our response and
should be made as soon as practicable or within 2 months of our response.
We will respond when the review has been completed.

 

If you are not satisfied with the internal review, you may then refer to
the Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision on:

 

·         Whether we have responded to your request for information in
accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act; or,

·         Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information
requested

 

More detailed information on your rights to review is on the Information
Commissioner’s Office website: [3]https://ico.org.uk

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Customer Information

Colchester Borough Council

[4][Colchester Borough Council request email]

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Dear Colchester Borough Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Colchester Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Correspondence with Alumno'.

My request has been refused citing commercial sensitivity. I find it hard to believe that every communication between CBC and Alumno comprises wholly of commercially sensitive material, as defined in the Freedom of Information Act. Therefore I would expect actually commercially sensitive material only to be redacted, leaving the rest of each document available for disclosure

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

Yours faithfully,

Ian Cropton

Andrew Weavers, Colchester Borough Council

Dear Mr Cropton

 

Thank you for your email of 9 April requesting an internal review of the
Council’s response dated 22 March 2019 in relation to your request no.
356888 dated 12 February 2019  requesting copies of all correspondence
between Colchester Borough Council and its subsidiary companies with
Alumno Holdings and its subsidiary companies which relate to the
redevelopment of the old Bus Station off Queen Street, Colchester.

 

The Council’s response (via Colchester Amphora Trading Ltd) of 22 March
2019 supplied copies of all correspondence between the Council and Alumno.
However with regards to Colchester Amphora Trading Limited’s involvement
with Alumno, it was confirmed that discussions have taken place.  However,
the details of these discussions and all correspondence were deemed
commercially sensitive and  therefore confidential as they formed part of
an ongoing commercial  negotiation. This part of your request was
therefore exempt from disclosure in accordance with under s43(2) of the
Freedom of Information Act as it related to commercial interests.

 

I have reviewed the Council’s response of 22 March 2019 and would respond
as follows:

 

I note that the Council did provide information which it deemed in the
public domain with its response. Colchester Amphora Trading Limited are
acting for the Council on the proposed property transaction with Alumno.
The Council’s property transaction with Alumno is still in the course of
being negotiated and has not yet been concluded and accordingly this
remains a live commercial transaction. Section 43(2) of the Freedom
Information Act 2000 contains an exemption against disclosure of
information in relation to commercial interests. This exemption enables
the Council to withhold disclose of information where the disclosure would
be likely to prejudice the commercial interest of any person (individual,
company, Council or any other legal entity). In my view the transaction
with Alumno comes within this exemption as it is still in the course of
negotiation. I am also required to consider the public interest test in
relation to this exemption.  I am satisfied that disclosure of the
information requested would prejudice or harm the commercial interests of
the Council as the transaction with Alumno remains the subject of
negotiation between the parties and has not yet been concluded. Any
disclosure of information regarding this transaction at this stage would
be prejudicial to the commercial interests of the Council regarding its
ability to negotiate and conclude the best deal in the circumstances.

 

On balance in my view, the public interest in disclosing the information
is outweighed by the public interest in the Council maintaining the
exemption as this would be detrimental to the Council’s ability to
negotiate and conclude this transaction with Alumno. Once completed the
details of the lease will be a matter of public record as it will be
registered at HM Land Registry.

 

In reviewing this I have also reviewed whether this information should be
disclosed under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. In my view
the subject matter of the information requested comes within the meaning
of the Regulations as it relates to land development. In accordance with
Regulation 12(4)(d) the request is for material in the course of
completion and unfished documents. As mentioned above the Agreement with
Alumno is still in the course of negotiation and has not yet been
concluded . I am required to consider the public interest test regarding
this exemption. In my view the public interest in maintaining the
exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information as
disclosure at this time would affect the Council’s ability to deal with
the transaction in a “safe space” and any disclosure of material would
harm that “safe space”. As the draft documentation is still in the course
of negotiation at the time of the request any disclosure now would make
this difficult to bring the process to a proper conclusion.

 

I am also required to consider the public interest in favour of disclosure
e.g. being open and transparent. However for the reason mentioned above
any disclosure now would impede the ability of the Council to have a “safe
space” in which to negotiate and conclude the transaction with material
that is still in the course of completion and the documentation being
unfinished. It is also highly probable that any disclosure would diminish
the Council’s ability to secure the best terms in the circumstances and
accordingly on balance, the exemption ( taking into account the public
interest) should be maintained.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of this review you can refer your
request to the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at;  The
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF.   Or   [1][email address]

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Andrew Weavers

Monitoring Officer

Policy and Corporate

Colchester Borough Council

Tel: 01206 282213

[2]www.colchester.gov.uk

 

 

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