Council building closures since 2010

The request was successful.

Dear Birmingham City Council,

Please kindly provide a list of council-run buildings (including Libraries, Day Care Centres, Community Centres, Schools and Administrative bases) which your Council has had to close since 2010. Please provide the name of the buildings and the postcodes of the buildings.

Such closures would include those where people have to seek the same type of service from a different location* which already exists (or maybe there is no alternative available). * If there are any scenarios where a service provision is not closed but relocated across the road to another council building I don't require information on that.

I require the list to include buildings closed and disposed plus buildings that are re-let following service closures.

I'm only interested however in the buildings in which you provided a service that you were forced to close due to Government cuts to your budget making it no longer financially viable for you to keep such buildings open.

The reason why I require this information is to get a picture of the effect of any Government cuts to council budgets which in turn is forcing councils to find ways to make savings.

In order to assist the request here is the relevant information from other councils. Please note however I require the postcode besides the name of the buildings if possible:
Example 1 Lancashire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/4f28e56539.pdf
Example 2 Lincolnshire Council (excel file) https://d.pr/14FZr
Example 3 Oxfordshire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/fded63aff2.pdf
Example 4 Herefordshire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/17818cf345.pdf
Example 5 Suffolk Council (excel file) https://d.pr/117FU
Example 6 Milton Keynes Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/6c6384a655.pdf

Yours faithfully,

Lee Jefferson

Dear Birmingham City Council,

My request for this information hasn't changed, but as a result of requests of clarification from other UK councils I have 'fine tuned' this request in order to be as helpful as possible. Please therefore find the most up to date wording of this request along with 73 helpful example results from other councils below:

Please kindly provide a list of council-run buildings (including Libraries, Day Care Centres, Community Centres, Schools and Administrative bases) which your Council has had to close since 2010. Please provide the name of the buildings and the postcodes of the buildings.

Such closures would include those where people have to seek the same type of service from a different location* which already exists (or maybe there is no alternative available). * If there are any scenarios where a service provision is not closed but relocated across the road to another council building I don't require information on that.

I require the list to include buildings closed and disposed plus buildings that are re-let following service closures. If there is a scenario where the building is closed but still under council ownership then please include that in the list.

The primary reason I require this information is to get a picture of the effect of any Government cuts to council budgets which in turn is forcing councils to find ways to make savings. If you can't be sure of the reason for closure then kindly provide the information anyway and indicate what is known about the reason for closure (if known).

In order to assist the request here is the relevant information from other councils who have responded thus far which I'm very happy with. Please note I require the postcode besides the name of the buildings if possible.

Example 1 Lancashire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/4f28e56539.pdf 1,187 mi²
Example 2 Lincolnshire Council (excel file) https://d.pr/14FZr 2,646 mi²
Example 3 Oxfordshire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/fded63aff2.pdf 1,006 mi²
Example 4 Herefordshire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/17818cf345.pdf 842 mi²
Example 5 Suffolk Council (excel file) https://d.pr/117FU 429 mi²
Example 6 Milton Keynes Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/6c6384a655.pdf 34.36 mi²
Example 7 Barrow in Furness Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/d77a34c716.pdf 4.672 mi²
Example 8 Dorset Council (excel file) https://d.pr/1dQAS 1,024 mi²
Example 9 St Helens Council (excel file) https://d.pr/cWXt 5.3 mi²
Example 10 Staffordshire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/7de57618e4.pdf 1,047 mi²
Example 11 Bedfordshire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/c34d1c5e1f.pdf 477 mi²
Example 12 Gloucestershire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/28ea5b7391.pdf 1,216 mi²
Example 13 East Sussex Council (excel file) https://d.pr/1hJZK
Example 14 Rutland Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/c7cd375a16.pdf 147.5 mi²
Example 15 Powys Council (excel file) https://d.pr/1cO7c 2,000 mi²
Example 16 Kent Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/d38becbbd4.pdf 1,442 mi²
Example 17 Stockport Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/6499ac30fe.pdf
Example 18 Norfolk Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/e1028b6905.pdf 95.98 mi²
Example 19 Hertfordshire (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/87d2eb2242.pdf 634 mi²
Example 20 Telford & Wrekin (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/088336242d.pdf 112.1 mi²
Example 21 Surrey Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/3694ad78f3.pdf 642 mi²
Example 22 Sunderland Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/b63afdf6e7.pdf
Example 23 Wiltshire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/66cf0059b2.pdf 1,346 mi²
Example 24 Bridgend Council (excel file) https://d.pr/160HZ 2.51 mi²
Example 25 Brent Council (excel file) https://d.pr/cNcv 16.7 mi²
Example 26 Warwickshire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/b6c0ac9a2d.pdf 763 mi²
Example 27 Durham Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/493c4eb3f6.pdf 108.3 mi²
Example 28 Buckinghamshire Council (pdf file) https://d.pr/1bcVb 724 mi²
Example 29 Ards & North Down Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/955d2f1285.pdf 228 mi²
Example 30 Derry City & Strabane Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/b3c38fda87.pdf 149 mi²
Example 31 Causeway Coast & Glens Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/dc3dd3be9e.pdf
Example 32 Merton Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/fc6e673dd7.pdf 14.52 mi²
Example 33 Bury Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/28d961a136.pdf 493 mi²
Example 34 Aberdeenshire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/a2f2d17b10.pdf 2,437 mi²
Example 35 Sefton Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/cf55238424.pdf 59.1 mi²
Example 36 Caerphilly Council (excel file) https://d.pr/dJtM 3.734 mi²
Example 37 City of York Council (excel file) https://d.pr/AsSe 105 mi²
Example 38 Torfaen Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/100310d874.pdf 48.65 mi²
Example 39 Solihull Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/55a0f3f3eb.pdf 68.84 mi²
Example 40 Mid Ulster Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/727b2bf729.pdf
Example 41 Trafford Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/0f39f385d8.pdf 40.94 mi²
Example 42 East Riding of Yorkshire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/f704ebcfac.pdf 930 mi²
Example 43 Slough Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/0e903eab33.pdf
Example 44 Sheffield Council (excel file) https://d.pr/w39T 142.1 mi²
Example 45 Selby Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/56c18de9ab.pdf 370 mi²
Example 46 Denbighshire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/91edf3c8f2.pdf 325.9 mi²
Example 47 Cheshire West & Chester Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/5471f29fb5.pdf 940 mi²
Example 48 Peterborough Council (excel file) https://d.pr/Gw9g 132.58 mi²
Example 49 Northumberland Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/94ffc0922b.pdf 2,018 mi²
Example 50 Belfast Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/a15077a7c1.pdf 44.4 mi²
Example 51 Isle of Anglesey Council (excel file) https://d.pr/1azFs 275.7 mi²
Example 52 Derbyshire Council (excel file) https://d.pr/17hUL 1,014 mi²
Example 53 Newcastle Upon Tyne (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/3311485ad7.pdf 139 mi²
Example 54 Devon Council (excel file) https://d.pr/kl88 2,590 mi²
Example 55 Leicestershire Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/4ed5d3187f.pdf 832 mi²
Example 56 Calderdale Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/b35241c9c5.pdf 140.5 mi²
Example 57 Blaenau Gwent Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/b7543a7976.pdf 42.09 mi²
Example 58 Kirklees Council (excel file) https://d.pr/3puj 157.8 mi²
Example 59 Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/69a679ce1e.pdf 76.61 mi²
Example 60 Cumbria Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/024157ebab.pdf 2,613 mi²
Example 61 Wolverhampton (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/27f1343187.pdf 26.81 mi²
Example 62 Sutton Council (excel file) https://d.pr/MCC1 16.93 mi²
Example 63 Moray Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/d0211899ab.pdf 864 mi²
Example 64 Barnet Council (excel file) https://d.pr/xxmh 33.49 mi²
Example 65 Bolton Council (excel file) https://d.pr/q6BU 21.34 mi²
Example 66 Highland Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/318b637778.pdf 11,838 mi²
Example 67 Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/2113a15228.pdf 554 mi²
Example 68 Cornwall Council (excel file) https://d.pr/11ICV 1,376 mi²
Example 69 Wigan Council (excel file) https://d.pr/JRR 72.66 mi²
Example 70 Conwy Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/88b4a714e2.pdf 435 mi²
Example 71 Rotherham Council (excel file) https://d.pr/2BRq 111 mi²
Example 72 Essex Council (pdf file) http://freepdfhosting.com/fa354958c8.pdf 15.95 mi²
Example 73 Northamptonshire Council (excel file) https://d.pr/Xboj 913 mi²

Yours faithfully,

Lee Jefferson

Mark Bieganski, Birmingham City Council

Dear Mr Jefferson,

 

I refer to your enquiry of 8^th October

 

Please kindly provide a list of council-run buildings (including
Libraries, Day Care Centres, Community Centres, Schools and Administrative
bases) which your Council has had to close since 2010.  Please provide the
name of the buildings and the postcodes of the buildings.

 

Such closures would include those where people have to seek the same type
of service from a different location* which already exists (or maybe there
is no alternative available).    * If there are any scenarios where a
service provision is not closed but relocated across the road to another
council building I don't require information on that.

 

I require the list to include buildings closed and disposed plus buildings
that are re-let following service closures.

 

I'm only interested however in the buildings in which you provided a
service that you were forced to close due to Government cuts to your
budget making it no longer financially viable for you to keep such
buildings open.

 

The reason why I require this information is to get a picture of the
effect of any Government cuts to council budgets which in turn is forcing
councils to find ways to make savings.

 

In order to assist the request here is the relevant information from other
councils. Please note however I require the postcode besides the name of
the buildings if possible:

 

 

Please note this is not your official response but rather that I need to
seek some clarification please before formulating the response.  Your
enquiry is wanting the council to provide a list of building closures
since 2010 aligned to Government driven budget cuts.  The council can list
what it has sold in this time period but cannot do so in a way which
answers your query.

The council doesn’t hold a specific list of why property may have been
closed.  A property or a service outlet may be closed for a number of
reasons.  In broad terms such closures would arise from a service review
which would take the form of a decision report which is a matter of
publicly available record.  It may not necessarily be clear or spelt out
that property A is closing within that review and nor may it necessarily
be clear if the reasons for closure are government budget cut related. 
The subsequent reshaping of the service and the related property impacts
would be contained within a series of further reports and it would be
difficult to discern the thread of decision making  back to the driver for
the service review without considerable research in each case. 

 

In seeking this clarification I see that we have a number of options in
assisting you with the answer. Unfortunately pursuit of those options,
namely to  determine the various decision documents against each disposal
and identify clarify which can be aligned to the nub of your enquiry is
very resource intensive and will exceed the Fees limit under the Act. 
(Under section 12 of the Act, a public authority is not obliged to comply
with a request if the cost of certain activities, including locating,
retrieving and extracting the information would exceed the appropriate
limit.  The appropriate limit specified in the regulations is £450.00.
This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours in
determining whether the department holds the information, and locating,
retrieving and extracting the information. The specified time spent on the
permitted activities attracts the flat rate of £25 per person, per hour 
i.e. 18hrs x £25 = £450.)

 

If you are able to refine your request to align with what is possible
within the existing information availability or to specify say an
individual property or specific service area we may be able to assist
further.  I look forward to hearing further from you

 

Kind regards

 

Name:  Mark Bieganski
Job Title:  Head of Property Strategy and Information
|  0121 303 3645 (office) | 07825 904495  (mobile) |  0121 303 3947 (fax)
postal address:  Birmingham Property Services, Birmingham City Council, PO
Box 16255,  Birmingham, B2 2WT
sat-nav address:  10 Woodcock Street, Birmingham, B7 4BL
[1]http://www.birminghampropertyservices.co...

 

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References

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1. http://www.birminghampropertyservices.co...

Dear Mark Bieganski,

I refer you to a section of my clarified request:

"If you can't be sure of the reason for closure then kindly provide the information anyway and indicate what is known about the reason for closure (if known)."

Yours sincerely,

Lee Jefferson

Mark Bieganski, Birmingham City Council

Dear Mr Jefferson

I am writing in respect of your enquiry for information held by the Authority under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Unfortunately, in this instance we may are unable to meet the 20 day deadline for response to your request. This is due to the information requested and clarified as below taking longer to collate than was initially expected. We apologise for this delay.

We will continue working towards fulfilling your request and we will write to you again no later than 20/11/2016 to provide a final response or an update. Once again please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Name:  Mark Bieganski
Job Title:  Head of Property Strategy and Information
|  0121 303 3645 (office) | 07825 904495  (mobile) |  0121 303 3947 (fax)
postal address:  Birmingham Property Services, Birmingham City Council, PO Box 16255,  Birmingham, B2 2WT
sat-nav address:  10 Woodcock Street, Birmingham, B7 4BL
http://www.birminghampropertyservices.co...

show quoted sections

Dear Mark Bieganski,

Thanks very much for letting me know. No problem regarding the delay.

Yours sincerely,

Lee Jefferson

Mark Bieganski, Birmingham City Council

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Dear Mark Bieganski,

I note the message you sent was in Egriss .switch format - but I wasn't registered with Egriss at the time you sent it. I am however now registered with them and I sent the email to be decrypted - but I have received a message from Egriss stating you (Mark Bieganski - and your email address which I won't state on here for security reasons) has not permitted my email address to read the email. I appreciate you may not know my email address as that is held with the intermediary whatdotheyknow.com.

I will therefore send you a request directly from my email account to display the email. This is the first time anyone has replied to my FOIA requests with an encrypted email.

Yours sincerely,

Lee Jefferson

Dear Mark Bieganski,

I confirm I am the sender of the email to your account at a time of 11:47 today.

Yours sincerely,

Lee Jefferson

Mark Bieganski, Birmingham City Council

Dear Mr Jefferson,

The encryption occurs automatically if the program detects sensitive material being despatched.

I have granted you access to the information

Kind regards

Name:  Mark Bieganski
Job Title:  Head of Property Strategy and Information
|  0121 303 3645 (office) | 07825 904495  (mobile) |  0121 303 3947 (fax)
postal address:  Birmingham Property Services, Birmingham City Council, PO Box 16255,  Birmingham, B2 2WT
sat-nav address:  10 Woodcock Street, Birmingham, B7 4BL
http://www.birminghampropertyservices.co...

show quoted sections

Dear Mark Bieganski,

Thanks very much for the information - I appreciate it.

Yours sincerely,

Lee Jefferson