Dear Ranjan Balakumaran

Freedom of Information / Environmental Information Regulations Request:
LBH/7222918

I acknowledge your request for information received on 27 March 2018.

This information request will be dealt with in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations and we
will send the response by 26 April 2018

Yours sincerely,

Feedback and Information Governance

Shared Service Centre | Central Team

Haringey Council 

10th Floor, Alexandra House, 10 Station Road, Wood Green, London N22 7TR

www.haringey.gov.uk

twitter@haringeycouncil

facebook.com/haringeycouncil

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Dear Mr Balakumaran,

Re: Freedom of Information Act Request ref: LBH/7222918

Thank you for your request for information received on 27 March 2018, in
which you asked for the following information:

Please provide details of how the valuation of £2billion was arrived at in
relation to the proposed HDV. What were the upper and lower limits of the
property valuations?

Please provide a copy of Appendix 5 to the November 2015 cabinet paper
relating to HDV.

My response is as follows:

Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA). This letter is a notice of the refusal of your request, as
required under section 17 FOIA.

The £2bn figure refers to the estimated value of new development on those
sites that are currently proposed for development by the HDV – their
potential so-called gross development value (GDV).  The figure was derived
as part of the financial appraisal which underpinned the business case for
the HDV approved by Cabinet in November 2015 (see
[1]http://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/ieLis...
The work was done on behalf of the Council by GVA Bilfinger and Turnberry
Real Estate. 

However, the financial appraisal (Appendix 5 to the November 2015 cabinet
paper) was in the exempt section of the Cabinet papers because its
publication would have created a substantial risk of prejudice to the
procurement of a private sector partner with which to establish the HDV.

Information  held by the Council relating to your request is exempt under
section 43(2) FOIA, which provides as follows:

(2) Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act
would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any
person (including the public authority holding it).

The information relating to your request relates to an ongoing procurement
process conducted with external service providers in a competitive
environment. Although the Council has now identified its preferred bidder
in relation to the proposal, the information requested remains
commercially sensitive.  In particular, it should be noted that the
decision whether to establish the HDV will not be taken until
post-election period.   Release of information in scope of the request
could prejudice the financial outcome for the Council, not least because
bargaining positions may become public prior to the decision regarding the
establishment of the HDV.  This would also be the case should the Council
decide to engage in any other discussions which might be held of a similar
nature at any time in the future. Such public exposure would impede the
give-and-take process of negotiation and prejudice the Council’s ability
to secure the best possible terms.

This is a qualified exception and is therefore subject to the public
interest test.

The public interest arguments in favour of releasing this information
include the following:

·         Disclosure would further understanding of or participation in a
significant initiative that impacts on businesses and residents in
Haringey;

·         Disclosure would encourage transparency in the Council’s
decision making processes;

·         Disclosure would allow transparency of decisions on how public
funds are spent

The public interest arguments for withholding the information include the
following:

·         The public disclosure of this information would be likely to
prejudice the commercial interest of the Council (see above);

·         The Council’s position in negotiations with the preferred bidder
would be jeopardised if this information is released, with the Council
losing some of its bargaining power;

·         The Council’s position in future procurement negotiations may be
jeopardised if this information is released (i.e. the prejudicial
consequences would be likely to be felt not only at the immediate time,
but in the future also);

·         This would have a detrimental impact on the Council’s ability to
maximise its commercial objectives on behalf of the public as part of this
initiative.

·         In the longer term, any contractors with whom the Council comes
to negotiate on similar matters will be able to use this information to
strengthen their bargaining position and obtain unfair insights into the
Council’s strategic thinking and financial assessments. This could
prejudice the Council’s ability to obtain the most favourable commercial
terms in such transactions.

Having carefully weighed the public interest arguments, the Council has
concluded that the public interest in withholding the information
outweighs the public interest in releasing it.

I reiterate that the Council acknowledges that disclosure would to some
extent enhance the public’s understanding of how the Council is
approaching this joint development. The Council, however, has already
published a great deal of the background information about the HDV and
will continue to publish as much information as possible, within such
constraints such as those described above.

You may find it helpful to look at the large amount of information on the
HDV proposal which is brought together on a dedicated page on the
Council’s website at: [2]http://www.haringey.gov.uk/hdv. 

If you wish to apply for an internal review of the information provided,
or to complain about the way your request was handled (please note you
should do this within two months of receiving this response) please
contact:

Haringey Council

Feedback and Information Team

River Park House

225 High Road

LONDON

N22 8HQ

Telephone:          020 8489 2550

Email:                 [3][email address]

Yours sincerely,

Darrell De Souza

Business Analyst

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential, may be
subject to legal privilege and are intended only for the person(s) or
organisation(s) to whom this email is addressed. Any unauthorised use,
retention, distribution, copying or disclosure is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this email in error, please notify the system
administrator at Haringey Council immediately and delete this e-mail from
your system. Although this e-mail and any attachments are believed to be
free of any virus or other defect which might affect any computer or
system into which they are received and opened, it is the responsibility
of the recipient to ensure they are virus free and no responsibility is
accepted for any loss or damage from receipt or use thereof. All
communications sent to or from external third party organisations may be
subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant
legislation.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/ieLis...
2. http://www.haringey.gov.uk/hdv
3. mailto:[email address]