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Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 26 November 2024
for information about FlyDoncaster Limited. Please find below City of
Doncaster Council’s responses to the questions you have raised.

Request

I would like to request the following in relation to FlyDoncaster Limited.

Company 16069508 FlyDoncaster Limited has been register by Doncaster
Council in relation to Doncaster Sheffield Airport under SIC code 51101.

1. I would like to request all papers relating to the nature of the
company and its involvement with any Special Purpose Vehicle, including
all of its operating activities. In particular, I will be looking for
information relating to trading, and restrictions on its powers.

2. Papers relating to the participation in any other company including
equity shares, direct or indirect and voting rights.

3. Any involvement in this company, or relationship with the South
Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority including any persons currently
employed by the Combined Authority.

4.  All costs related to setting up this company including share capital,
regardless of funding source and any related parties.

Response

This information is exempt from disclosure under Section 36(2)(b) and
36(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Section 36 allows a
public authority to refuse to disclose information if, in the reasonable
opinion of a qualified person, it would or would be likely to inhibit the
free and frank provision of advice, the free and frank exchange of views
for the purposes of deliberation and would otherwise prejudice or would be
likely to prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.

At the time of your request, the company has been set up however, other
details have yet to be finalised and may be subject to change and further
discussions and meetings are to be held in relation to this.  Release of
information into the public domain could have an impact on this process,
affecting decisions to be taken and opinions on how to address any issues
raised.  Disclosure would be likely to negatively impact the ability of
the Council to offer free and frank provision of advice and an exchange of
views for the purpose of deliberation in relation to FlyDoncaster.  

Additionally, this process requires the organisations to give opinions and
share their views in an environment where they are free from external
scrutiny, known as a safe space.  This ensures they are not constrained in
the information they disclose due to the ‘chilling effect’ of it being
known outside of this process, which would likely to be the case if they
felt this information would be released to the public.  It is also the
Council’s view that the conduct of public affairs would also be likely to
be prejudiced as the organisations involved in the process may be
unwilling to be involved in future projects, if the information was to be
disclosed. 

Public Interest Test

This exemption is qualified and on that basis I have considered whether or
not in this case the public interest in maintaining the exemption
outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

In coming to a decision to maintain the exemption I have considered the
following public interest factors in favour of disclosing the information:

• There is a need to ensure that the Council operates in an open and
transparent manner
• The report may be of interest to some members of the public,
especially those with an interest in the airport project
• Members of the public will be more informed about the FlyDoncaster
company

And the following factors in favour of withholding the information:

• Whilst the company has been set up, other details are yet to be agreed
and there are ongoing discussions within the council and with external
input, in which the Council needs to be able to discuss/debate issues
relating to large council projects without an impact on
confidentiality
• Organisations may not provide their views and concerns openly to the
council if they are open to disclosure
• Discussions between the Council and other organisations need to be
open and uninhibited and they would have a reasonable expectation that
some matters would not be disclosed
• There is an overriding public interest in the council being able to
conduct free and frank discussions to ensure informed decision making
• The commencement of the company is still taking place and may be
subject to change, therefore releasing information at this time could
hinder this process
• Disclosure of information which may be subject to change could provide
incorrect information and be relied upon by the general public

The Qualified Person has considered the importance of openness,
accountability and transparency but does not consider that this counter
balances the prejudice which they deem likely to occur. On balance, we do
not consider that the public interest outweighs the need to protect
against the risk of prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs
at this time and therefore will not be providing the information.

City of Doncaster Council estimates that it has cost £49 to respond to
this request for information.

If you are not happy with this reply you can ask us to review our
response. To do this write to us within 40 working days of receiving your
response at the address below or email [1][email address]

If you do not agree with the review decision you can apply to the
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision about our
compliance or otherwise with the Freedom of Information legislation.
Contact details for the ICO are: Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. [2]www.ico.org.uk
Telephone 0303 123 1113.

Yours faithfully,

Ellen Dook

Information Governance Officer

Corporate Resources

City of Doncaster Council

Address  Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU

Website   www.doncaster.gov.uk

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