Information Request
 
Thank you for your email.  This is to acknowledge receipt of your
request.  Your request will be handled by an officer who will respond
under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 as appropriate.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case I will
let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before I will proceed to deal with your request.

You will receive the information requested within 20 working days unless
the Council does not hold the information or there is a reason for it to
be withheld. I will write to you in any event.
 
Whilst it is the Council policy to provide information wherever possible,
I need to advise you that there are a number of exemptions under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Exceptions under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.  These may prevent the Council from
releasing all or some of the information you have asked for.   You will,
however, be informed if this is the case and we will explain why.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Paul Mountford | Principal Performance & Intelligence Officer
South Lakeland District Council, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street,
Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4DQ
Tel: 01539 733333
Email: [1][South Lakeland District Council request email] 
Website: [2]www.southlakeland.gov.uk  
 

  ________________________________  

IMPORTANT CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) INFORMATION: Please note that South
Lakeland District Council is prioritising its work and resources to meet
the demands of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) response. We are also working
hard to maintain our key services and to continue progress on critical
projects. However, the current situation will mean that some non-essential
work and responses to non-essential enquiries may take longer than usual.
We appreciate your understanding during this difficult time.

South Lakeland District Council

Making South Lakeland the best place to live, work and explore

Information contained in this email is intended only for the individual to
whom it is addressed. It may contain privileged and confidential
information and if you are not the intended recipient you must not copy,
distribute or take any action in reliance on it. If you have received this
email in error please notify the sender immediately by telephone on 01539
733333. Please also destroy and delete the message from your computer.

All communications sent to or from South Lakeland District Council may be
subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant
legislation.

Nothing in this email message amounts to a contractual or other legal
commitment on the part of South Lakeland District Council.

  ________________________________  
______________________________________________________________________
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1. mailto:[South Lakeland District Council request email]
2. http://www.southlakeland.gov.uk/

Dear Martina,
 
I am writing in respect of your recent enquiry for information held by the
Council, I will respond under the provisions of the Freedom of Information
Act.
 
You asked the following:
 

 1. Number of applications for a new licence in last 12 months
 2. Number of applications for a licence renewals in last 12 months
 3. Number of new licences granted as a result of an application made in
the last 12 months
 4. Number of licences renewed as a result of an application made in the
last 12 months
 5. If appropriate, grounds on which any licence (new or renewal) was
refused.
 6. A copy of each dog breeding licence currently issued.
 7. Please confirm the number of staff and qualifications of staff
employed by each licence holder (for the avoidance of doubt I am not
requesting any details of individual staff, just number employed by
each licence holder and the qualification(s) held)
 8. When applying for a new licence or a renewal which of the following do
you require in respect of the animals specified in the licence:

Name
Gender
Age and/or date of birth
Microchip number
Breed Description
Date of purchase

 9. Where a breeder buys/sells a breeding dog during the period of an
issued licence do you require them to notify you of the change at the
time of the sale/purchase of the dog or are records only updated at
the time of the renewal application?
10. What steps, if any, do you take to ensure that each breeder complies
with The Microchipping of Dogs (England) 2015 regulations?
11. Number of staff employed to conduct inspections during last 12 months 
12. Total number of inspections conducted during last 12 months
13. Number of litters produced (and number of puppies in each litter) by
each licence holder 
14. If you keep records of Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme members
please confirm which licence holders are also members of this scheme
15. Price charged for new licence
16. Price charged for renewal of a licence
17. Has any licence been revoked or suspended in the last 12 months? If
so, please provide details of licence holder and reason for revocation
or suspension
18. Number of complaints received in the last 12 months and the name of
the licence holder complained about. Where a complaint has resulted in
enforcement action please confirm what enforcement action was taken
and the name of the licence holder (or refer to answer above if
details already provided in relation to revocation or suspension of
licence)

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the late response
to your request for information. I am sorry that South Lakeland District
Council did not respond to your information request within the statutory
20 working days. I am grateful for your patience regarding this matter and
I am sorry if this has caused any inconvenience to you.
 
I confirm the Council holds the information requested and can confirm the
following:
 

 1. 1
 2. 4
 3. 1
 4. 4
 5. Not applicable
 6. Not available
 7. Not available
 8. *Covered within the inspection proforma completed on inspection

Name*
Gender*
Age and/or date of birth*
Microchip number*
Breed Description*
Date of purchase*

 9. At point of renewal
10. None
11. One
12. None
13. Not available
14. Not available
15. £236.84 + Vets fees
16. £225.78 + Vets fees
17. None
18. None

You are free to use any information supplied for your own personal use.
However, any other type of re-use, for example, by publishing the
information or issuing copies to the public will require the permission of
the copyright owner.
 
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your request, you have the
right to ask us to review our handling of your request. Any request for an
Internal Review must be made in writing within 40 days of this response.
Should you wish to request a review, please email
[1][South Lakeland District Council request email] or write to Paul Mountford, Specialist,
Performance, Innovation and Commissioning at the address below. Our
Internal Review Process is available on our [2]website.
 
Should you remain dissatisfied following our internal review, you can
refer the matter directly to the Information Commissioner.
 
Further information is available from the Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
[3]www.ico.org.uk
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Daria
 
Daria Pawlak | Case Management Officer (Customer and Commercial Services)
South Lakeland District Council, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street,
Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4DQ
Tel: 01539 733333 | Email: [4][South Lakeland District Council request email]
Website: [5]www.southlakeland.gov.uk
 
South Lakeland District Council Working together to make South Lakeland
the best place to live, work and explore
 
 

show quoted sections

Information Request
 
Thank you for your email.  This is to acknowledge receipt of your
request.  Your request will be handled by an officer who will respond
under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 as appropriate.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case I will
let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before I will proceed to deal with your request.

You will receive the information requested within 20 working days unless
the Council does not hold the information or there is a reason for it to
be withheld. I will write to you in any event.
 
Whilst it is the Council policy to provide information wherever possible,
I need to advise you that there are a number of exemptions under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Exceptions under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.  These may prevent the Council from
releasing all or some of the information you have asked for.   You will,
however, be informed if this is the case and we will explain why.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Paul Mountford | Principal Performance & Intelligence Officer
South Lakeland District Council, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street,
Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4DQ
Tel: 01539 733333
Email: [1][South Lakeland District Council request email] 
Website: [2]www.southlakeland.gov.uk  
 

  ________________________________  

IMPORTANT CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) INFORMATION: Please note that South
Lakeland District Council is prioritising its work and resources to meet
the demands of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) response. We are also working
hard to maintain our key services and to continue progress on critical
projects. However, the current situation will mean that some non-essential
work and responses to non-essential enquiries may take longer than usual.
We appreciate your understanding during this difficult time.

South Lakeland District Council

Making South Lakeland the best place to live, work and explore

Information contained in this email is intended only for the individual to
whom it is addressed. It may contain privileged and confidential
information and if you are not the intended recipient you must not copy,
distribute or take any action in reliance on it. If you have received this
email in error please notify the sender immediately by telephone on 01539
733333. Please also destroy and delete the message from your computer.

All communications sent to or from South Lakeland District Council may be
subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant
legislation.

Nothing in this email message amounts to a contractual or other legal
commitment on the part of South Lakeland District Council.

  ________________________________  
______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
______________________________________________________________________

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[South Lakeland District Council request email]
2. http://www.southlakeland.gov.uk/

Dear Martina,

I am writing in respect of your recent request for an Internal Review
under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

When conducting Internal Review requests in accordance with the freedom of
information legislation and as stated in our Internal Review Process, I
consider:

1.       Was the request handled promptly and within 20 working days?

2.       Did we confirm the information was held?

3.       Does the Council hold any additional information which has not
yet been released?

4.       Was a reason given for why the request was refused?

5.       Were any exemptions applied appropriately?

6.       Was a charge wrongly applied?

7.       The overall handling of the request.

The review does not cover the content of the response itself, this is set
out in the section:

‘What can’t you request a review about?

Not liking the answer you have received, for example a report shows that
some repairs have been undertaken, but you don’t think the work has been
completed properly

I will summarise the correspondence and our handling of the request below,
requests to the Council are shown in italics, responses from the Council
are shown in bold:

On  25 October 2020, you asked:

1.    Number of applications for a new licence in last 12 months

2.    Number of applications for a licence renewals in last 12 months

3.    Number of new licences granted as a result of an application made in
the last 12 months

4.    Number of licences renewed as a result of an application made in the
last 12 months

5.    If appropriate, grounds on which any licence (new or renewal) was
refused.

6.    A copy of each dog breeding licence currently issued.

7.    Please confirm the number of staff and qualifications of staff
employed by each licence holder (for the avoidance of doubt I am not
requesting any details of individual staff, just number employed by each
licence holder and the qualification(s) held)

8.    When applying for a new licence or a renewal which of the following
do you require in respect of the animals specified in the licence:

Name

Gender

Age and/or date of birth

Microchip number

Breed Description

Date of purchase

9.    Where a breeder buys/sells a breeding dog during the period of an
issued licence do you require them to notify you of the change at the time
of the sale/purchase of the dog or are records only updated at the time of
the renewal application?

10.  What steps, if any, do you take to ensure that each breeder complies
with The Microchipping of Dogs (England) 2015 regulations?

11.  Number of staff employed to conduct inspections during last 12
months 

12.  Total number of inspections conducted during last 12 months

13.  Number of litters produced (and number of puppies in each litter) by
each licence holder 

14.  If you keep records of Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme members
please confirm which licence holders are also members of this scheme

15.  Price charged for new licence

16.  Price charged for renewal of a licence

17.  Has any licence been revoked or suspended in the last 12 months? If
so, please provide details of licence holder and reason for revocation or
suspension

18.  Number of complaints received in the last 12 months and the name of
the licence holder complained about. Where a complaint has resulted in
enforcement action please confirm what enforcement action was taken and
the name of the licence holder (or refer to answer above if details
already provided in relation to revocation or suspension of licence)

On 4 January 2021, the Council responded:

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the late response
to your request for information. I am sorry that South Lakeland District
Council did not respond to your information request within the statutory
20 working days. I am grateful for your patience regarding this matter and
I am sorry if this has caused any inconvenience to you.  I confirm the
Council holds the information requested and can confirm the following:

1.            1

2.            4

3.            1

4.            4

5.            Not applicable

6.            Not available

7.            Not available

8.            *Covered within the inspection proforma completed on
inspection

Name*

Gender*

Age and/or date of birth*

Microchip number*

Breed Description*

Date of purchase*

9.            At point of renewal

10.          None

11.          One

12.          None

13.          Not available

14.          Not available

15.          £236.84 + Vets fees

16.          £225.78 + Vets fees

17.          None

18.          None

On 18 January 2021  you requested an Internal Review as detailed below:

I am writing to request an internal review of South Lakeland District
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Dog Breeding Licences'. I have not
been provided with the dog breeding licences requested or details of staff
employed by breeders. In response to both of these matter you have stated
“not available” but not explained why the information is not available. In
relation to staff employed by licence holders is the information not
available because you do not record it or is it the case that none of your
licensed breeders employ staff? Please confirm the position as regards
employees. Please explain why the copy dog breeding licences are not
available. In the event that you have withheld the copy dog breeding
licences because they include personal data I would comment that S40 of
the Act does not prohibit the provision of personal data. S40 calls for a
balance to be struck between data protection principles and the need for
transparency. I believe that the request is lawful, fair and transparent.
There would be no point in having a licensing regime in place if nobody
can identify who the licence holders are. The purpose of the request is to
identify licence holders, the number of breeding dogs kept by each licence
holder, the star rating of each licence holder and any special conditions
that attach to each licence. I believe there is a legitimate interest in
collecting this data. To avoid any further delays I can advise you that it
is my view that the copy licences should not be redacted to such an extent
that the licence holder cannot be identified In the event that the licence
holder trades from a residential address I agree that it would be
appropriate to redact the address on the licence. I also agree that it is
appropriate to redact the signature and the name of any council employee
identified on the licence.

Following my review of your request, I can confirm the following response
to the considerations outlined above:

1.       Was the request handled promptly and within 20 working days?

·         Your request was not responded to within the 20 working day
limit as specified under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  The Council
issued an apology on 4 January 2021.

·         I consider no further action should be taken.

2.       Did we confirm the information was held?

·         Yes. The Council confirmed it held records and information
relevant to your request dated 25 October 2020.

·         The Council does not hold information regarding the number of
staff and qualifications of staff employed by each licence holder. The
Council does not hold information regarding the number of litters produced
(and number of puppies in each litter) by each licence holder. The Council
does not hold information or records of Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme
members or which licence holders are also members of this scheme.

·         I consider no further action should be taken.

3.       Does the council hold any additional information which has not
yet been released?

•        Records and information in respect of part 6 of your request
dated 25 October 2020 are publicly available via the following link –
[1]https://licensing.southlakeland.gov.uk/L...

•      I consider no further action should be taken.

4.       Was a reason given for why the request was refused?

·   No. For part 6 of your request dated 25 October 2020, the information
you requested is exempt from release under section 21 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 as the information requested is available to you as
detailed in point 3, above. For parts 7, 13 and 14 of your request dated
25 October 2020, the information you requested is not held by the Council.
Please see point 2, above.

·   I consider no further action should be taken.

5.       Were any exemptions applied appropriately?

·         I refer you to point 4, above.

·         I consider no further action should be taken.

6.       Was a charge wrongly applied?

·         No charge was applied, I consider this not relevant.

7.       Overall, was the request handled appropriately?

·         Considering points 1-7 above I am satisfied with the Council’s
handling of your request for information and no further action should be
taken.

Should you remain dissatisfied following our internal review, you can
refer the matter directly to the Information Commissioner.

Further information is available from the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office,

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

[2]www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely,

Paul Mountford | Performance, Innovation and Commissioning Specialist

South Lakeland District Council, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street,
Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4DQ

Tel: 01539 733333 | Direct Tel: 01539 793271 | [mobile number] |
Email: [3][email address]

Website: [4]www.southlakeland.gov.uk

South Lakeland District Council Working together to make South Lakeland
the best place to live, work and explore

show quoted sections

______________________________________________________________________
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References

Visible links
1. https://licensing.southlakeland.gov.uk/L...
2. http://www.ico.org.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.southlakeland.gov.uk/