Dear Ms Loris Brown

Re: Freedom of Information Act 2000
Environmental Information Regulations 2004
Reference No: 18412333

Thank you for your recent request.

Your request is being considered and you will receive a response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days, subject to the application of any exemptions. Where consideration is being given to exemptions the 20 working day timescale may be extended to a period considered reasonable depending on the nature and circumstances of your request. In such cases you will be notified and, where possible, a revised time-scale will be indicated. In all cases we shall attempt to deal with your request at the earliest opportunity.

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of the information requested where the request exceeds the statutory limit or where disbursements exceed £10. In such cases you will be informed in writing and your request will be suspended until we receive payment from you or your request is modified and/or reduced.

Your request may require either full or partial transfer to another public authority. You will be informed if your request is transferred.

If we are unable to provide you with the information requested we will notify you of this together with the reason(s) why and details of how you may appeal (if appropriate).

Please note that the directorate team may contact you for further information where we believe that the request is not significantly clear for us to respond fully.

Kind regards

Customer Resolutions Administrator
Information Security & Governance
Chief Executive’s Directorate
Lewisham Council

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Dear Ms Loris Brown

Re: Freedom of Information Act 2000
Environmental Information Regulations 2004
Reference No: 18412333

Thank you for your request for information held by London Borough of Lewisham. Please find below, a copy of your request and our response.

.
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request a list of all Empty/Disused buildings in the borough that you hold. This is to include, names addresses, and use type.

This would mean all buildings that are unoccupied, abandoned, and/or derelict. This includes, Business buildings, Schools, and Healthcare buildings etc; owned by Lewisham Borough Council.

Please note, that I am not asking for a list of empty residential homes which are available for rent/purchase.

We apply Section 31 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, ‘Law enforcement,‘ to your request.

Section 31 states:

(1) Information which is not exempt information by virtue of section 30 is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice—
(a) the prevention or detection of crime,
(b) the apprehension or prosecution of offenders,
(c) the administration of justice,
(d) the assessment or collection of any tax or duty or of any imposition of a similar nature,
(e) the operation of the immigration controls,
(f) the maintenance of security and good order in prisons or in other institutions where persons are lawfully detained,
(g) the exercise by any public authority of its functions for any of the purposes specified in subsection (2),
(h) any civil proceedings which are brought by or on behalf of a public authority and arise out of an investigation conducted, for any of the purposes specified in subsection (2), by or on behalf of the authority by virtue of Her Majesty’s prerogative or by virtue of powers conferred by or under an enactment, or
(i) any inquiry held under the [1976 c. 14.] Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiries (Scotland) Act 1976 to the extent that the inquiry arises out of an investigation conducted, for any of the purposes specified in subsection (2), by or on behalf of the authority by virtue of Her Majesty’s prerogative or by virtue of powers conferred by or under an enactment.
(2) The purposes referred to in subsection (1)(g) to (i) are—
(a) the purpose of ascertaining whether any person has failed to comply with the law,
(b) the purpose of ascertaining whether any person is responsible for any conduct which is improper,
(c) the purpose of ascertaining whether circumstances which would justify regulatory action in pursuance of any enactment exist or may arise,
(d) the purpose of ascertaining a person’s fitness or competence in relation to the management of bodies corporate or in relation to any profession or other activity which he is, or seeks to become, authorised to carry on,
(e) the purpose of ascertaining the cause of an accident,
(f) the purpose of protecting charities against misconduct or mismanagement (whether by trustees or other persons) in their administration,
(g) the purpose of protecting the property of charities from loss or misapplication,
(h) the purpose of recovering the property of charities,
(i) the purpose of securing the health, safety and welfare of persons at work, and
(j) the purpose of protecting persons other than persons at work against risk to health or safety arising out of or in connection with the actions of persons at work.
(3) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, compliance with section 1(1)(a) would, or would be likely to, prejudice any of the matters mentioned in subsection (1).

This acts as an exemption notice. We have applied this exemption as section 31(1) (a). It is important to remember that when information is released under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, it is considered released to the wider public. We confirm that the information is held.

This is a qualified exemption and requires the consideration of a public interest test:

• There are general arguments in promoting transparency and accountability of public
authorities.
• Raising the profile of vacant properties would help encourage public engagement and
debate.

Factors in favour of withholding

• There is an inherent public interest in crime prevention. This was considered in the Voyias case
by the Tribunal.
• There is public interest in avoiding the costs associated with squatting, for example repair,
security and eviction costs.
• The negative impact of squatting affects the surrounding community and public authorities
involved, not just the individual property

We believe that the balance of public interest lies in upholding the exemption and not releasing the information into the public domain.

We hope you will find this information helpful.

You are free to use the information provided for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, requires the permission of the copyright holder. You may apply for permission to re-use this information by submitting a request to [email address]

You have a right of appeal against this response which you can exercise by writing to: [email address]

This must be requested within 40 working days of the date of this response.
If you remain dissatisfied after receiving this decision, you then also have a further right of appeal, which you can make in writing, stating your reasons to the regulating body, the Information Commissioner's Office. Contact details are outlined below:

https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

Telephone: 0303 123 1113.

Address: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

FOI Team
Information Security and Governance Team
Chief Executive’s Directorate
Lewisham Council

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