Independent traders in Elephant and Castle

Waiting for an internal review by Southwark Borough Council of their handling of this request.

Dear Southwark Borough Council,

I am writing to request the following information:

a) The list of the Elephant and Castle local independent operators that applied for a relocation site in Perronet House, Castle Square and Elephant One. Please specify which of them were successful (36), which of them were unsuccessful (28), and which did not submit an application. Of those successful, please also detail the unit offered (e.g. Unit 7 in Perronet House)

b) The list of local independent operators that have left their premises or have stopped operating in the Elephant and Castle area since December 2018. Please also indicate their new addresses, e.g. East Street market, or if unknown, please state so.

c) The list of the independent businesses that the Council had made by January 2018. Specifically, I refer to the information that Southwark Council may have made use of to formulate the response in an email sent to a local charity at that time. An extract of this email can be found on this link, https://twitter.com/LatinElephant/status.... To clarify, I am requesting the name of such businesses and their corresponding addresses in Elephant and Castle.

Thank you for your assistance.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Salvador

Vanessa Bascoe, Southwark Borough Council

Southwark Council - Information request

Our reference: 1393553

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Dear Mr Salvador

Re: Your request for information: 1393553

Thank you for your request for information that was received on 24 October
2019 in which you requested:

I am writing to request the following information:

a) The list of the Elephant and Castle local independent operators that
applied for a relocation site in Perronet House, Castle Square and
Elephant One. Please specify which of them were successful (36), which of
them were unsuccessful (28), and which did not submit an application. Of
those successful, please also detail the unit offered (e.g. Unit 7 in
Perronet House)

b) The list of local independent operators that have left their premises
or have stopped operating in the Elephant and Castle area since December
2018. Please also indicate their new addresses, e.g. East Street market,
or if unknown, please state so.

c) The list of the independent businesses that the Council had made by
January 2018. Specifically, I refer to the information that Southwark
Council may have made use of to formulate the response in an email sent to
a local charity at that time. An extract of this email can be found on
this link, https://twitter.com/LatinElephant/status....
To clarify, I am requesting the name of such businesses and their
corresponding addresses in Elephant and Castle.

Your request is being dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
and you will receive a response within 20 working days of the date that we
received your request.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 defines a number of exemptions that
may restrict the release of the requested information. There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemptions apply then the information may not
be released. You will be informed if this is the case, including your
rights of appeal.

The information provided will be in English, normal font size. If you
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please notify us.

If we are unable to provide you with the information requested we will
notify you of this together with the reason(s) why and details of how you
may appeal (if appropriate).

Southwark Council uses your personal data to process your request for
information.  The Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 require us to do this.  We do not require
your permission to process this data and failure to provide it will mean
that we cannot respond to your request.

Your information will only be used by our information governance team and
will be destroyed after 2 years.

If you are concerned about how the council is using your data, please
contact our Data Protection Officer via [1][email address] or on 020
7525 5000. 

 
Further information is available through the Information Commissioner
at [2]www.ico.org.uk.

Yours sincerely

 

Vanessa Bascoe
Senior Information Systems Officer
[email address]

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.

If you have received this in error please notify us immediately.

If you are not the intended recipient of the email or the person
responsible for delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or
otherwise use it for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other
person. To do so may be unlawful.

Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not necessarily those
of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not responsible for any
changes made to the message after it has been sent.

References

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2. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/

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Dear Ms Bascoe,

Southwark Council Ref: 1393553

Twenty working days have passed since your acknowledgement of receipt of my request. However, I have not received any response, nor was an explanation given as to why the response would be delayed.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 Section 10(1) states that an authority must comply with Section 1(1) of the Act '... promptly and in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of receipt'. The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 Section 5(2) states that the information shall be made available '... as soon as possible and no later than 20 working days after date of receipt of the request'.

Could you please look into this matter as soon as possible and advise when a response is due?

Yours sincerely,

Mr Salvador

Vanessa Bascoe, Southwark Borough Council

Southwark Council - Information request

Our reference: 1393553

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Dear Mr Salvador,

Re: Your request for information: 1393553 

I am writing further to your request for information received on 24
October 2019 to advise you that the information you requested is being
withheld under the Freedom of Informtion Act 2000.

You requested: I am writing to request the following information:

a) The list of the Elephant and Castle local independent operators that
applied for a relocation site in Perronet House, Castle Square and
Elephant One. Please specify which of them were successful (36), which of
them were unsuccessful (28), and which did not submit an application. Of
those successful, please also detail the unit offered (e.g. Unit 7 in
Perronet House)

b) The list of local independent operators that have left their premises
or have stopped operating in the Elephant and Castle area since December
2018. Please also indicate their new addresses, e.g. East Street market,
or if unknown, please state so.

c) The list of the independent businesses that the Council had made by
January 2018. Specifically, I refer to the information that Southwark
Council may have made use of to formulate the response in an email sent to
a local charity at that time. An extract of this email can be found on
this link, https://twitter.com/LatinElephant/status....
To clarify, I am requesting the name of such businesses and their
corresponding addresses in Elephant and Castle.

The information you requested is being withheld under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. The exemption which applies to this information is
Section 43 – Commercial Interest.

Section 43 – Commercial Interest sets out an exemption from the right to
know if:

(1.)  the information requested is a trade secret, or
(2.)  release of the information is likely to prejudice the commercial
interests of any person. (A person may be an individual, a company, the
public authority itself or any other legal entity.)

Section 43 is subject to the public interests test. In applying this
exemption, we have balanced the public interest in withholding the
information against the public interest in disclosure.

This exemption applies because:

* The information is commercially sensitive for both the Council and the
contractor

The public interest arguments for releasing this information are as
follows:

* To encourage transparency in the Council's decision making processes
* We acknowledge that there is public interest in the openness of
contracts and business made with the council.

The public interest arguments for withholding the information are as
follows:

* The Council's position in negotiations with prospective contractors
will be jeopardised if this information is released
* The Council's position in a competitive environment would be weakened
by revealing market-sensitive information
* Releasing the information would breach commercial and personal
confidence by releasing this data.

Having considered the above, the council is of the view that the factors
in favour of maintaining the exemption outweigh the factors in favour of
disclosure and therefore the balance of the public interest test is
greater in maintaining the exemption available under section 43 of the
Act.

Please note that under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC
Directive) Regulations 2003 Southwark Council ask not to receive
unsolicited marketing communications.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make an appeal for a review of our decision, you
should contact us at [1][Southwark Borough Council request email], quoting the reference
number above.

If you are not content with the outcome of your appeal you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have first
exhausted our internal appeal procedure and you should contact her within
2 months of the outcome of your internal appeal.

information is available through the Information Commissioner
at [2]www.ico.org.uk.

Yours sincerely

 

Vanessa Bascoe
Senior Information Systems Officer
[3][email address]

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential,
may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege and are intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.

If you have received this in error please notify us immediately.

If you are not the intended recipient of the email or the person
responsible for delivering it to them you may not copy it, forward it or
otherwise use it for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other
person. To do so may be unlawful.

Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not necessarily those
of Southwark Council and Southwark Council is not responsible for any
changes made to the message after it has been sent.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Southwark Borough Council request email]
2. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]

hide quoted sections

Dear Ms Bascoe,

Southwark Council Ref: 1393553

Thank you for your response.

I would like to appeal the decision and request that an internal review be conducted.

I am making this request under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Salvador

Dear Southwark Borough Council,

Your reference: 1393553

Further to my appeal submitted on 28 November, I would be grateful if you could consider the following points when making your decision:

1. No evidence from third parties was provided.
It is noted that when considering prejudice to a third party’s commercial interest, arguments originating from the third party itself should also be considered (Derry City Council v Information Commissioner [2006] UKIT EA_2006_0014). However, no such evidence was presented in your initial response dated 22 November.

2. No evidence of the prejudice claimed.
It is also noted that in your letter of refusal no causal link between the disclosure of the information requested and commercial harm that is actual, real or of substance was provided. On the basis of case law, para 21 of ICO's The Prejudice Test states that "there must be more than a mere assertion or belief that disclosure would lead to prejudice".

3. The public interest outweighs the harm claimed.
The development has "potential equalities risks presented by the displacement of BME businesses" (Cabinet report "Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre Equalities Analysis and Mitigation Projects", May 2017, para 31). The public interest test in your letter of refusal fails to weigh in the significant public interest in the fair and successful relocation of traders, some of whom also share protected characteristics.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Salvador

Dear Southwark Borough Council,

I am writing with regard to my request for an internal review.

On 28 November 2019, I expressed my dissatisfaction with your letter of refusal and requested an internal review. On 11 December, I formulated a series of points for your consideration.

The good practice guide by the Information Commissioner's Office states that public authorities should "ensure the review takes no longer than 20 working days in most cases, or 40 in exceptional circumstances".

I note that 68 working days have elapsed since I submitted my request for an internal review and I have not received any response or communication to justify this delay.

In consequence, if I do not hear from you in the following 7 days, I will refer my complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Salvador