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Dear Wai M Yau

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 13 February 2025, for information about Grant Thornton's Findings on Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

Please find below City of Doncaster Council’s responses to the questions you have raised.

Request:
"1. Please provide a copy of the full report or findings from Grant Thornton concerning Doncaster Sheffield Airport, specifically related to the concerns highlighted in the Thursday 13 February 2025 Audit Committee meeting's Appendix D."

Response:
This information is exempt from disclosure under Section 21 of the Freedom of information Act. Section 21 exempts information from the right of access if that information is reasonably accessible to the applicant by other means. In this case the information is available at: https://doncaster.moderngov.co.uk/ieList...

Request:
"If the full report cannot be disclosed, please provide:
a. A summary of the key findings or conclusions made by Grant Thornton regarding the financial viability, operational readiness, or any other significant aspects of the Doncaster Sheffield Airport project."

Response:
Please see response to question 1.

Request:
"b. Any recommendations made by Grant Thornton in response to their findings."

Response:
Please see response to question 1.

Request:
"c. Correspondence or documents detailing the council's response or planned actions in relation to these findings."

Response:
City of Doncaster Council do not hold this information. There are no correspondence or documents detailing City of Doncaster Council's response or planned actions in relation to these findings.

Request:
"d. Details of any additional assessments or reviews commissioned by the council in response to the concerns raised by Grant Thornton."

Response:
City of Doncaster Council do not hold this information. There are no additional assessments or reviews commissioned by City of Doncaster Council in response to the concerns raised by Grant Thornton.

Request:
"2. Additionally, I would like to request a copy of the Turley report in relation to Doncaster Sheffield Airport and Peel. Again, if areas are redacted, please refer to above."

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.

The Turley report is currently in draft form and City of Doncaster Council are in the process of finalising its input into this report. Therefore, the information may be subject to change as further discussions and meetings are to be held in relation to this. Release of the information into the public domain could have an impact on this process, affecting any 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 the Turley Report. 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.

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

Factors in favour of withholding the information:
• Input by City of Doncaster Council into the Turley Report is 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.
• 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 gathering of the information to feed into the report 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 ‘safe space’ required for this process is likely to be negatively affected if information intended for the Turley report is open to disclosure.
• There is an overriding public interest in the council being able to conduct free and frank discussions to ensure informed decision making.

The Qualified Person has considered the importance of openness, accountability and transparency but does not consider that this counterbalances 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.

I hope that this information is useful to you.

City of Doncaster Council estimates that it has cost £49.00 to respond to this request for information.

Reviewing any decisions made:

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 [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. www.ico.org.uk Telephone 0303 123 1113.

Yours sincerely,

Lucy McMahon
Freedom of Information Officer
Corporate Resources
City of Doncaster Council

Phone 01302 736000
Address Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU Email [email address] Website www.doncaster.gov.uk

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