Failure to provide Energy Performance Certificates by landlord of Pauling House, Spencer Road, Eastbourne.

James Plant made this Freedom of Information request to East Sussex County Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear East Sussex County Council,

Please provide copies of all communications between East Sussex County Council and the landlord of Pauling House, Spencer Road, Eastbourne, concerning the failure b y the latter to obtain, or provide, Energy Performance Certificates in respect of the eight flats in total. These to include letters, E-Mails, records of telephone calls and any other documents that exist in connection with this.

Yours faithfully,

James Plant

Freedom of Information, East Sussex County Council

 

 

 

Dear Mr Plant

 

EIR Request ref:  4378 / Failure to provide Energy Performance
Certificates by landlord of Pauling House, Spencer Road, Eastbourne.

 

Thank you for your request for information about the above. Your request
was received on 14/8/2014 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

We always aim to respond as quickly as possible, and in this case will do
so no later than 12/9/2014, which is the 20 working day deadline. The
deadline is counted from the first working day we receive it, not the date
a letter is written / posted or an email sent.

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 we proceed in dealing with your request.

Please quote the above reference number in any communication regarding
this request.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Jeremy Coleman

Customer Information Officer

East Sussex County Council

Communities Economy and Transport Directorate

W1D, County Hall

St Anne’s Crescent

Lewes

East Sussex BN7 1UE

 

Phone: 01273 482913
Fax: 01273 481208

email: [1][East Sussex County Council request email]   web: [2]www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi

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when replying. All communications sent to or from the County Council
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References

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1. mailto:[East Sussex County Council request email]
2. http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi

Freedom of Information, East Sussex County Council

 

 

Dear Mr Plant

 

EIR Request ref:  4378 / Failure to provide Energy Performance
Certificates by landlord of Pauling House, Spencer Road, Eastbourne.

 

Thank you for your request for information about the above, which has been
dealt with under the terms of the Environmental Information Regulations
2004. Your request and our response are set out below. Please note that
any information we provide is subject to the copyright and reuse of
information terms and conditions set out at the bottom of this email.

 

REQUEST

 

Please provide copies of all communications between East Sussex County
Council and the landlord of Pauling House, Spencer Road, Eastbourne,
concerning the failure b y the latter to obtain, or  provide, Energy
Performance Certificates in respect of the eight flats in total. These to
include letters, E-Mails, records of telephone calls and any other
documents that exist in connection with this.

 

 

RESPONSE

 

We have assessed the information that you have requested and have
concluded that it is personal data, as defined by Section 1 Data
Protection Act 1998. In this case, the personal data of persons other that
yourself. Regulation 13 EIR provides that a public authority shall not
disclose personal data where that personal data does not relate to the
requester. We will therefore not be providing this information.

 

 

I hope that this answers your enquiry. If you believe that the County
Council has not complied with the EIR in responding to your request, you
may ask for an internal review. If you wish to do so, please set out the
grounds of your appeal in writing to:

 

Philip Baker, Assistant Chief Executive, East Sussex County Council,
County Hall, St Anne’s Crescent, Lewes, East Sussex. BN7 1UE.

or by email to him at [1][email address]

 

Please quote the EIR reference number in any communication regarding this
particular request.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you then
have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision
unless you have exhausted the County Council’s internal review procedure
as described in the previous paragraph. The Commissioner can be contacted
at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Tel: 0303 123 1113.  [2]www.ico.org.uk

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Jeremy Coleman

Customer Information Officer

East Sussex County Council

Communities, Economy and Transport Directorate

W1D, County Hall

St Anne’s Crescent

Lewes

East Sussex BN7 1UE

 

Phone: 01273 482913
Fax: 01273 481208

email: [3][East Sussex County Council request email]   web: [4]www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi

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email

 

 

 

Copyright and Re-Use of information

1. Providing you with documents under the Freedom of Information Act does
not give you an automatic right to re-use those documents in a way that
would infringe copyright – for example by making multiple copies, or by
publishing / issuing copies to the public.

2. Copyright in the information is owned by East Sussex County Council
and/or its contractor(s) unless otherwise stated. Brief extracts of the
material can be reproduced under the “fair dealing” provisions of the
Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988 (S.29 and S.30) for the purposes of
research for non-commercial purposes, private study, criticism, review and
news reporting.

3. We do not give permission for this information to be used for the
purposes of direct marketing.

4. If you wish to use this information then, in accordance with the
Regulations on the Re-use of Public Sector Information 2005, you must
first ask our permission. Such re-use may or may not involve the granting
of a licence and the application of a Fee.

 

 

This message is intended for the use of the addressee only and may
contain confidential or privileged information. If you have received it in
error please notify the sender and destroy it. You may not use it or copy
it to anyone else.

E-mail is not a secure communications medium. Please be aware of this
when replying. All communications sent to or from the County Council
may be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with
relevant legislation.

Although East Sussex County Council has taken steps to ensure that this
e-mail and any attachments are virus free, we can take no responsibility
if a virus is actually present and you are advised to ensure that the
appropriate checks are made.

You can visit our website at http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ico.org.uk/
3. mailto:[East Sussex County Council request email]
4. http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi

Dear East Sussex County Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of East Sussex County Council's handling of my FOI request 'Failure to provide Energy Performance Certificates by landlord of Pauling House, Spencer Road, Eastbourne.'.

I do not concur with your statement that the information represents personal data as defined in The Freedom of Information Act. This is in the public interest to have the information accessible and available to people in view of the persistent failures of a supposedly charitable body to comply with regulations that have been in force for some years now. Since the failure to obtain and provide Energy Performance Certificates is a criminal offence, it is a reasonable request to make the background information available. On the evidence, it seems that the regulations are not being enforced by East Sussex County Council. This is something that requires an explanation.

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

Yours faithfully,

James Plant

Freedom of Information, East Sussex County Council

Dear Mr Plant

 

EIR Request ref:  4378 / Failure to provide Energy Performance
Certificates by landlord of Pauling House, Spencer Road, Eastbourne.

 

Thank you for your email. You seem to have misunderstood our response to
your request. Personal Data is not defined by the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 (FOIA); it is defined by Section 1 Data Protection Act 1998.
Personal data, in simple terms, is any information that can identify a
living individual. Either on its own, or together with other information
in the possession of the data controller (ESCC) or likely to come into the
possession of the data controller (ESCC).

Personal data is exempt information and, in these circumstances, the
exception to the requirement to disclose it comes from Regulation 13
Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). The exception at
Regulation 13 EIR is absolute and does not require a public interest test.
The public interest is therefore not something that we would consider when
applying this Exception.

 

You have requested an internal review. I should point out that your
request has been dealt with under the terms of the EIR and not the FOIA.
Therefore, our internal review will also be carried out under the terms of
the EIR. We always aim to respond as quickly as possible, and in this case
will do so no later than 21/10/2014, which is the 40 working day deadline.
The deadline is counted from the first working day we receive it, not the
date a letter is written / posted or an email sent.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Jeremy Coleman

Customer Information Officer

East Sussex County Council

Communities Economy and Transport Directorate

W1D, County Hall

St Anne’s Crescent

Lewes

East Sussex BN7 1UE

 

Phone: 01273 482913
Fax: 01273 481208

email: [1][East Sussex County Council request email]   web: [2]www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi

P  please consider the environment - do you really need to print this
email

 

This message is intended for the use of the addressee only and may
contain confidential or privileged information. If you have received it in
error please notify the sender and destroy it. You may not use it or copy
it to anyone else.

E-mail is not a secure communications medium. Please be aware of this
when replying. All communications sent to or from the County Council
may be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with
relevant legislation.

Although East Sussex County Council has taken steps to ensure that this
e-mail and any attachments are virus free, we can take no responsibility
if a virus is actually present and you are advised to ensure that the
appropriate checks are made.

You can visit our website at http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[East Sussex County Council request email]
2. http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi

Caroline Hodge, East Sussex County Council

4 Attachments

Dear Mr Plant

 

Please find attached response regarding the above and attachments.

 

Best wishes

 

Caroline Hodge        
Team Support Officer
Chief Executive's Office
PA to Philip Baker    Assistant Chief Executive
East Sussex County Council,
C3E,  County Hall, St Annes Crescent,
Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1SW
Tel No. 01273 482160
Email:[email address]
(Working Hours - 8.30am - 5pm Monday - Friday)

 

This message is intended for the use of the addressee only and may
contain confidential or privileged information. If you have received it in
error please notify the sender and destroy it. You may not use it or copy
it to anyone else.

E-mail is not a secure communications medium. Please be aware of this
when replying. All communications sent to or from the County Council
may be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with
relevant legislation.

Although East Sussex County Council has taken steps to ensure that this
e-mail and any attachments are virus free, we can take no responsibility
if a virus is actually present and you are advised to ensure that the
appropriate checks are made.

You can visit our website at http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk

Caroline Hodge, East Sussex County Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Plant

 

Please find attached response letter and attachment regarding the above.

 

 

Kind regards

 

Caroline Hodge        
Team Support Officer
Chief Executive's Office
PA to Philip Baker    Assistant Chief Executive
East Sussex County Council,
C3E,  County Hall, St Annes Crescent,
Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1SW
Tel No. 01273 482160
Email:[email address]
(Working Hours - 8.30am - 5pm Monday - Friday)

 

This message is intended for the use of the addressee only and may
contain confidential or privileged information. If you have received it in
error please notify the sender and destroy it. You may not use it or copy
it to anyone else.

E-mail is not a secure communications medium. Please be aware of this
when replying. All communications sent to or from the County Council
may be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with
relevant legislation.

Although East Sussex County Council has taken steps to ensure that this
e-mail and any attachments are virus free, we can take no responsibility
if a virus is actually present and you are advised to ensure that the
appropriate checks are made.

You can visit our website at http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk

James Plant (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

The grounds for refusing to provide some of the information are still disputed and ESCC'S contention that certain details constitutes "personal data" is nonsense plainly. This will be pursued via the ICO.

The facts surrounding the failure to undertake inspections and supply Energy Performance Certificates for these properties suggests deliberate and persistent failures over a lengthy period of time. These legal requirements were never met at all despite the statute enacting them having been operative for some years. Given that ESCC decided not to take action, it creates cause for concern that the landlord, Queen Alexandra Cottage Homes, could flout the regulations with impunity. This landlord fails to comply with a variety of regulations in relation to property it lets.