Dear Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea,

Please provide the following documents:

1) Details of item FP/14/03563 in Building Control records

2) Details of when a full plans decision notice is required according to Building Regulations, and when a completion certificate is required, and who signs them off respectively

3) All correspondence with Rydon about Grenfell Tower refurbishment both prior to and after the company was awarded the contract

4) All invoices regarding Grenfell Tower refurbishment

5) All correspondence regarding Grenfell Tower between RBKC and KCTMO, or RBKC and Rydon, that mentions "demolition"

6) Professional qualifications and salary of the person who was Council's Building control officer on 15 May 2015, how long they have been in their role and whether it is the only position they hold in the Council and outside it

Yours faithfully,

Fanny Malinen

Freedom of Information: CP-ICT: RBKC, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Dear Ms. Malinen

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST REF: 2017-1223

                                                                                                

I am writing to confirm that we received your information request on 13
August 2017. For your information and future communications your request
has been allocated the reference number FOI2017-1223. Please quote this
reference in any future correspondence.

 

We will consider your request and respond in accordance with the
requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Our duty is to
respond promptly or at least within 20 working days.

 

Yours sincerely

                                                                                                                                 

Robin Yu

Information Governance and Management
Officer                                                                          

Shared ICT Service

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

The Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 7NX

Tel: 020 7938 8226

 

Email: [1][email address] | Website: [2]http://www.rbkc.gov.uk

 

 

Dear Freedom of Information: CP-ICT: RBKC,

I would like to request a reply to my Freedom of Information request on Grenfell Tower. The reference number is FOI2017-1223 and the original FOI request was sent on 13 August. Please note that you are required by law to provide a response promptly, in most cases within 20 working days, so it is now overdue.

Yours sincerely,

Fanny Malinen

Dear Mr Yu

I would like to request a reply to my Freedom of Information request on Grenfell Tower. The reference number is FOI2017-1223 and the original FOI request was sent on 13 August. Please note that you are required by law to provide a response promptly, in most cases within 20 working days, so it is now long overdue.

Yours sincerely,

Fanny Malinen

Dear Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's handling of my FOI request 'Grenfell Tower'.

By law, the authority should have responded promptly, normally within 20 working days. Despite sending a prompt at the end of the 20 days as well as last week, I have received no communication since the original acknowledgement.

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

Yours faithfully,

Fanny Malinen

Lowther, Jason: CP-ICT: RBKC, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Dear Fanny Malinen

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REF: 2017-1223

 

 

I am responding to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000,
which we received on 13 August 2017, for information held by the Council.

 

 

Your request is as follows:

 

 

1) Details of item FP/14/03563 in Building Control records –

2) Details of when a full plans decision notice is required according to
Building Regulations, and when a completion certificate is required, and
who signs them off respectively –

3) All correspondence with Rydon about Grenfell Tower refurbishment both
prior to and after the company was awarded the contract –

4) All invoices regarding Grenfell Tower refurbishment –

5)  All correspondence regarding Grenfell Tower between RBKC and KCTMO, or
RBKC and Rydon, that mentions "demolition"

6) Professional qualifications and salary of the person who was Council's
Building control officer on 15 May 2015, how long they have been in their
role and whether it is the only position they hold in the Council and
outside it

 

Our response to part of this request is as follows:

2) Details of when a full plans decision notice is required according to
Building Regulations, and when a completion certificate is required, and
who signs them off respectively

Details regarding the building control process can be found at:
[1]https://www.gov.uk/building-regulations-...

 

We  have decided to withhold the your other requests for the reasons
below.

 

You have asked:  

 

6) Professional qualifications and salary of the person who was Council's
Building control officer on 15 May 2015, how long they have been in their
role and whether it is the only position they hold in the Council and
outside it

We consider that this is a request for personal data. 

 

Under FOIA applications for the personal data of others has to be
considered under section 40(2) Someone else’s personal data. In making its
deliberations the council has to consider whether any disclosure under
FOIA would engage an exemption under the Data Protection Act 1998. In this
case your request touches upon whether or not any disclosure would breach
Fairness, as described under Principle 1 Fair and Lawful Processing. In
this instance the council asserts that the information you request, namely
qualification, salary and length/nature of service details were all
provided and collated within the context of employment, with the
expectation that it would not be disclosed to the public at large. The
council further considers that breaching this expectation without a
legitimate legal purpose, constitutes a breach of the Data Protection Act.

 

Therefore this aspect of your request is refused as set out under section
17 of FOIA on the grounds that disclosure would breach Principle 1 of the
Act, as staff are entitled to privacy in their contractual arrangements
with their employer.

 

 

1) Details of item FP/14/03563 in Building Control records –

3) All correspondence with Rydon about Grenfell Tower refurbishment both
prior to and after the company was awarded the contract –

4) All invoices regarding Grenfell Tower refurbishment –

5)  All correspondence regarding Grenfell Tower between RBKC and KCTMO, or
RBKC and Rydon, that mentions "demolition

 

Section 39 of the Freedom of Information Act provides that environmental
information shall be handled in accordance with the Environmental
Information Regulations (EIR). Your request has been handled in accordance
with EIR as it is our opinion that the information requested constitutes
environmental information.

 

Regulation 2(1) of the EIR states that environmental information is:

“…any information in written, visual, aural, electronic or any other
material form on –

 

(a) the state of the elements of the environment, such as air and
atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites…biological
diversity and its components…and the interaction among those elements;

 

(b) factors, such as substances, energy, noise, radiation or
waste…emissions…and other releases into the environment, affecting or
likely to affect the elements referred to in (a);

 

(c) measures (including administrative measures), such as policies,
legislation, plans, programmes, environmental agreements, and activities
affecting or likely to affect the elements and factors referred to in (a)
and (b) as well as measures or activities designed to protect those
elements;…”.

 

The withheld information is about building control records and
refurbishment works at Grenfell Tower  which we believe falls under the
definition of environmental information above.

 

Under the exception at regulation 12(5)(b), public authority may refuse to
disclose information to the extent that its disclosure would adversely
affect the course of justice, the ability of a person to receive a fair
trial or the ability of a public authority to conduct an inquiry of a
criminal or disciplinary nature.

 

We believe that disclosure of the information would adversely affect the
ability of a public authority, namely the Metropolitan Police, to conduct
an enquiry of a criminal nature.

 

The Metropolitan Police have stated publicly said that there are
“reasonable grounds” to suspect that the council and Kensington & Chelsea
TMO of corporate manslaughter. This complex criminal investigation is at a
very early stage and is ongoing.

 

In accordance with the Code of Practice The council has consulted with the
Metropolitan Police as a third party who may be affected by the disclosure
or otherwise have an interest in whether the disclosure is effected. They
have advised that the information is relevant to their investigation and
expressed a view that disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the
prevention or detection of crime or the apprehension of prosecution of
offenders. 

 

In applying the exception, we are obliged to consider whether public
interest in disclosure outweighs the public interest in maintaining the
exception. There is a considerable public interest in the disclosure of
information held by the council about the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower,
and the cause and spread of the fire. The council recognise this and are
committed to being accountable and transparent. Where possible, we will be
releasing information that relates to Grenfell Tower.

 

However, there is also a significant public interest in withholding this
information so as to not adversely affect the criminal investigation and
it follows, the course of justice.  In assessing this risk of prejudice
the council has taken account of the views of the Metropolitan Police. We
therefore do not believe that there is an overriding reason to disclose
this information. 

 

At this point in time, it is our belief that the public interest in
withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

 

Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to this request.  

 

Complaints

 

I trust this has satisfied your request. Should you be unhappy with the
handling of your request, the Council has an internal complaints process
for handling FOIA complaints. Complaints are reviewed by the Chief
Solicitor and Monitoring Officer or her nominee. A form is available from
our website to lodge your complaint
[2]http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/councilanddemocra...
Please contact us if you do not have website access and we can provide you
with a copy of the form. Following this review, should you still be
unhappy with how your information request has been handled, you have a
further right to appeal to the Information Commissioner who is responsible
for ensuring compliance with FOIA.  

 

Yours sincerely

 

Jason Lowther

Senior Information Governance and Management Officer

Information Management

Information Technology 

[3]Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea || [4]Westminster City Council

 

 

 

             

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References

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1. https://www.gov.uk/building-regulations-...
2. http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/councilanddemocra...
3. http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/
4. http://www.westminster.gov.uk/