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Exempt accommodation

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Dear Fenland District Council,

This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.

This request concerns “exempt accommodation”. The UK Parliament defines this as: “Supported housing which is exempt from certain Housing Benefit provisions. It is a sector which houses more marginalised groups with support needs, such as recent prison leavers; care leavers; those fleeing domestic violence; and homeless people with substance dependence or mental health issues.”

I understand that housing benefit for people in “exempt accommodation” is paid by the council directly to landlords.

I would like to request the following information:

(1) Please state how much housing benefit has been paid by the council directly to landlords to provide “exempt accommodation” for those in receipt of the benefits. Please provide the figures for each of the past three financial years (2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21), as well as any available data for 2021/22.

(2) Please provide a list of the 20 landlords that have received the highest amount in housing benefit from the council for providing “exempt accommodation” for those in receipt of the benefits. Again, please provide this information for each of the past three financial years (2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21) as well as any available data for 2021/22. For each year, please (a) provide the landlord’s full name or company name, (b) state the total amount they received from the council in each year.

I would like to highlight how the Information Commissioner’s Office has previously ruled that this type of information should be disclosed. For example, in 2015, the ICO held that Torbay Council was not entitled to withhold the names of landlords who have directly received the largest amounts of housing benefit. In 2014, the ICO also ruled that Halton Borough Council was wrong to withhold similar information.

I would like to receive the data in an Excel format. If you feel that a substantive response to this request is not possible within a reasonable timeframe, I would be grateful if you could contact me and provide assistance as to how I can refine the request. If you need any clarification, please contact me.

I look forward to receiving a response in 20 working days. Many thanks.

Yours faithfully,

Jenna Corderoy

foi, Fenland District Council

I acknowledge your request for information received, which is being
investigated. 

 

The Act allows the Council 20 working days to comply with your request. 
During this time, the Council will assess the information to establish if
any exemptions apply.  If it is felt that any information may be exempt
from disclosure, this will be given careful consideration and the Public
Interest Test will be applied if appropriate.  If it is determined that
any material is exempt, you will be notified of which information is not
going to be released and the reasons why.

 

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the Freedom of
Information Officer at Fenland District Council, or email
[1][Fenland District Council request email].  It would help us to help you if you could quote
the Information Request No, quoted above, on any correspondence.

 

Yours sincerely

 

FOI Officer

Fenland District Council

01354 654321

[Fenland District Council request email]

 

E-mails and any attachments from Fenland District Council (the Council)
are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the
sender immediately by replying to the e-mail, and then delete it without
making copies or using it in any other way or placing any reliance on it.

It is not intended that this e-mail shall constitute either an offer or
acceptance nor is it intended to form a contract between the Council and
the addressee or any third party.

Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the sender and do not
necessarily represent those of the Council unless otherwise specifically
stated.

Although any attachments to the message will have been checked for viruses
before transmission, you are urged to carry out your own virus check
before opening attachments, since the Council accepts no responsibility
for loss or damage caused by software viruses.

Senders and recipients of e-mail should be aware that, under the EU
General Data Protection Regulation 2016, the Freedom of Information Act
2000, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and other related
legislation, the contents of e-mails may have to be disclosed in response
to a request.

To provide you with our services we will need to record personal
information, such as your e-mail address. This information will be kept
securely and only accessed by approved staff. We will not share your
information with anyone else without first telling you. If you would like
more details about how we protect personal information, then please
contact our Data Protection Officer.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Fenland District Council request email]

foi, Fenland District Council

1 Attachment

 

Good Afternoon

 

Thank you for your recent request for information. 

 

Please see the attached

 

If you require any further information regarding your request or are
unhappy with the response, you should contact the Member Services Officers
at Fenland District Council or e-mail [1][Fenland District Council request email] in the first
instance. 

 

If after this, you are still dissatisfied with this decision, you may
request the Information Commissioner to investigate.  The contact details
are:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

WILMSLOW

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Tel: 01625 545700

[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

FOI Officer

Fenland District Council

01354 654321

[3][Fenland District Council request email]

 

 

 

E-mails and any attachments from Fenland District Council (the Council)
are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the
sender immediately by replying to the e-mail, and then delete it without
making copies or using it in any other way or placing any reliance on it.

It is not intended that this e-mail shall constitute either an offer or
acceptance nor is it intended to form a contract between the Council and
the addressee or any third party.

Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the sender and do not
necessarily represent those of the Council unless otherwise specifically
stated.

Although any attachments to the message will have been checked for viruses
before transmission, you are urged to carry out your own virus check
before opening attachments, since the Council accepts no responsibility
for loss or damage caused by software viruses.

Senders and recipients of e-mail should be aware that, under the EU
General Data Protection Regulation 2016, the Freedom of Information Act
2000, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and other related
legislation, the contents of e-mails may have to be disclosed in response
to a request.

To provide you with our services we will need to record personal
information, such as your e-mail address. This information will be kept
securely and only accessed by approved staff. We will not share your
information with anyone else without first telling you. If you would like
more details about how we protect personal information, then please
contact our Data Protection Officer.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Fenland District Council request email]
2. https://scanner.topsec.com/?u=www.inform...
3. mailto:[Fenland District Council request email]

We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Jenna Corderoy please sign in and let everyone know.