Information regarding One Public Estate Scheme

The request was partially successful.

Dear Cheshire West and Chester Council,

With regards to your recent application to the Cabinet Office for One Public Estate funding, please could you provide me with the following:

1. A copy of the funding application to the Cabinet Office.

2. A copy of the supporting business case.

3. A copy of the programme for the scheme.

4. A list of the legal, management and property consultants you have appointed to work on the project so far.

5. The potential value of the scheme.

6. Details of any public consultations that have been held.

7. The name of the lead representatives for each local authority involved in the scheme.

8. The total amount of funding that has been received to date.

Yours faithfully,

Nathan Reid

Cheshire West and Chester Council

RE: Your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Case Reference: 101004787402

Dear Mr Reid

Thank you for your email.

It will be treated as a request within the meaning of the Act: this means that we will send you a full response within 20 working days, either supplying you with the information which you want, or explaining to you why we cannot supply it.

If we need any further clarification or there is any problem we will be in touch.

In the meantime if you wish to discuss this further please contact FOI WEST It would be helpful if you could quote the log number.

Yours sincerely

FOI Unit

Solutions Team

Cheshire West and Chester Council

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FOI West, Cheshire West and Chester Council

Dear Mr Reid

Further to your request for information, the Council can offer a partial response as follows:

2. A copy of the supporting business case.

The business case for the scheme is still under development.

5. The potential value of the scheme.

The bid refers to the expected benefits of the scheme. The total value of the scheme will depend on the options appraisal to be undertaken as part of the Business Case development and which construction option, if any, is pursued.

6. Details of any public consultations that have been held.

Related public consultation on local public services was undertaken in 2015. Details of the consultation are available online on the following link: http://ellesmereport.yourwestcheshire.co... More specific public consultation on the proposed scheme is premature at this stage pending completion of the business case

7. The name of the lead representatives for each local authority involved in the scheme.

Gerald Meehan – Chief Executive, Cheshire West and Chester Council
Graham Pink – Director of Place Commissioning and Commercial Management, Cheshire West and Chester Council

8. The total amount of funding that has been received to date.

£60k. This is the total amount awarded in relation to the most recent funding application

1. A copy of the funding application to the Cabinet Office.
3. A copy of the programme for the scheme.

Cheshire West and Chester Council confirms that it holds information covered by question 1 and 3 of your request. However we believe that we need further time in which to provide a full response to you.

Section 10(3) of the FOIA enables an authority to extend the 20 working day limit up to a ‘reasonable’ time in any case where;

* it requires more time to determine whether or not the balance of the public interest lies in maintaining an exemption; or

* it needs further time to consider whether it would be in the public interest to confirm or deny whether the information is held.

We consider that the exemption in section 43 of the Act applies to some of the information you have requested.

Section 43 is a qualified exemption and is subject to the public interest test.

We now need further time in which to consider the public interest in disclosing the information. We estimate that we will have reached a decision by 2nd October and we will write to you then.

4. A list of the legal, management and property consultants you have appointed to work on the project so far.

The Council requires clarification in order to locate the information most relevant to your request. We therefore ask if you could confirm the timeframe for your request. Does your request relate to consultants appointed for the project in its entirety or relating to the current phase of the project and funding.

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been handled you can request a review by writing to the Information Governance Team within 40 working days from the date of the Council’s response. You are entitled to a review by the Council if:
• You are dissatisfied with the Council’s explanation of why the application was not dealt with within the 20 working day time limit.
• All the information requested is not being disclosed and you have not received an explanation why some information is not being disclosed.
• A reason for the disclosures under the request being refused is not received.
• You consider that exemptions have been wrongly applied, and/or
• You consider that a fee has been wrongly applied.
Please set out your grounds for seeking a review together with what specific part of your request those grounds apply to and the outcome you are seeking. The Council reserves the right to ask you for clarification of the grounds for your review request if the grounds are not clear, and to delay commencing the review if such grounds are not provided.

The Information Governance Team can be contacted by email via: [Cheshire West and Chester Council request email] or at the following address:

Information Governance
Cheshire West and Chester Council
HQ
58 Nicholas Street
Chester
CH1 2NP

The Information Governance Team will acknowledge a request for an internal review within 5 working days and complete the review as soon as possible and no later than 40 working days from receipt of the request.

More information about the Council’s internal review process can be found via: http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk...

If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of your review, you have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45
Website: www.ico.org.uk

There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Customer Relations and Information Governance
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Location: HQ, Nicholas Street, Chester, CH1 2NP
Visit: cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

FOI West, Cheshire West and Chester Council

Dear Mr Reid

As Customer Relations Manager I am working with the Council’s Disclosure team to clear a backlog in outstanding responses. I note that you have not yet received a full response to your request dated 4 August 2017 logged under reference 4787402 which was partially answered on 25 August 2017.

I would like to apologise for the long delay in responding to you. The Disclosures team have been dealing with a high volume of caseload at present meaning that the Council’s compliance rate for answering requests within the statutory timeframe has decreased. Please be assured that measures are in place to address this, including additional support from other teams and new recruitment, so we hope to see an improvement shortly.

In relation to your request could you please confirm whether you still require the information you have requested under questions 1 and 3?

Could you also provide further clarification on the information you have requested under question 4? For example, do you have a specific timeframe for your request and does your request relate to consultants appointed for the project in its entirety or relating to the current phase of the project and funding?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Miriam Wallace

Miriam Wallace
Customer Relations Manager
Cheshire West and Chester Council

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Dear FOI West,

Thank you for your response to my request. I have received all the information I currently require. Therefore, there is no need to reply to the further questions I have asked.

Yours sincerely,

Nathan Reid

FOI West, Cheshire West and Chester Council

Dear Mr Reid

Thank you for your reply. Your request will now be closed.

Information Governance
Cheshire West and Chester Council

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