Dear Mr Jones

We apologise for the delay in responding to your recent FOI enquiry, which
led to your request for an internal review dated 4 August 2023.

Please see below our response to your original FOI questions, we trust
that this will negate your request for an internal review on the basis of
no response being received. If, after considering the response provided
you wish to raise a dispute, you may do so by seeking an internal review
of the same by emailing [1][Wirral Borough Council request email].

1) The renewable energy and or microgeneration measures that will have
been fitted and be fully operational by the time the development is
completed, together with details of their specifications and sizes.
 Following an assessment at the planning stage that reviewed the
sustainability of low and zero carbon technologies, Air Source Heat Pumps
were considered the most suitable and viable solution and were installed
in both buildings as the primary source of heating and cooling using a
zero fossil fuel system.

2) To what energy efficiency specifications, standards and ratings the
office blocks will be by the time the development is completed? The
offices are: EPC Rated A and BREEAM Excellent which puts them in the top
5% of commercial buildings in the country.

3) What assessments have been made of the transport requirements of the
users of the completed office blocks and the impact of that upon the area
and its transport links.

A full transport assessment and a framework travel plan were submitted as
part of the planning application and are available via the Council’s
planning portal. The planning application link is:
[2]https://online.wirral.gov.uk/planning/in....
A full travel plan will be developed after occupation.

4) What percentage of the overall useable floor area and of the rentable
total value of the blocks will be used by the council itself (with or
without rent income, please confirm), partners of the council (without or
without full or partial rent income, please confirm), others (with or
without full or partial rent income, please specify) and by other tenants
paying full market rent.

The Council will occupy 3.5 floors. Information regarding other tenancy
and rental information is considered to be commercially sensitive and
exempt under S43 of the FOIA. To release details of ongoing negotiations
with businesses could compromise the council’s position in said
negotiations and any future proposals to prospective tenants. It may also
compromise its current lettings and financial viability by evidencing said
negotiations, and therefore, being able to benchmark again current
commercial contracts within its portfolio.

5) If full business rates will not be fully payable and collected for all
of the office blocks then please provide full details of the breakdown of
this.

At this stage we cannot comment on Business Rates as the enquiry calls for
speculation as to future occupancies which is not recorded information.

The internal review process is open to you as detailed above. You would
then also have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at. You
can find their contact details on this webpage:
[3]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/.

Yours sincerely

Lynette Paterson

Principal Information Management Officer

Resources – Digital and Improvement

Wirral Council

PO Box 290
Brighton Street
Wallasey
CH27 9FQ

Email: [4][Wirral Borough Council request email]

Visit our website: [5]www.wirral.gov.uk

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Wirral Borough Council request email]
2. https://online.wirral.gov.uk/planning/in...
3. https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
4. mailto:[Wirral Borough Council request email]
5. http://www.wirral.gov.uk/

Dear Mr Jones

Wirral Council apologise for the delay in responding to your recent
clarification request,  dated 12 August 2023, in regards to your freedom
of information enquiry response, which led you to request an internal
review dated 11 September 2023.

You have requested the internal review on  the basis of no response being
received. If, after considering the response provided you wish to raise a
dispute, you may do so by seeking an internal review of the same by
emailing [1][Wirral Borough Council request email]

Please now find a response to your clarification request in regards your
original freedom of information  enquiry

You have asked :

‘…. please clarify two things –

3.5 floors will be occupied by council but of how many total floors?

‘I don't know what you mean by a zero fossil fuel system?’

Response:

For clarity the Wirral Council will be occupying 3.5 floors out of a total
of 4 floors

Zero fossil fuel system means not using coal or gas.

The Council trusts this now completes your request.

The internal review process is open to you as detailed above. You would
then also have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner who can
be contacted at [2]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

Yours sincerely

Tracy O'Hare

Information Management Officer

Wirral Council

PO Box 290

Brighton Street

Wallasey

CH27 9FQ

Email:[3][Wirral Borough Council request email]

Visit our website: [4]www.wirral.gov.uk

This information supplied to you is copyrighted and continues to be
protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.   You are free
to use it for your own purposes, including any non commercial research you
are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for
example commercial publication, would require our specific permission, may
involve licensing and the application of a charge

show quoted sections

Good Afternoon

In response to your email below please note this FOI is not due for a response until October 10th - I will chase the service area now so we can expect to respond to you on or before the 10th.

Many Thanks

Emma Murphy
Information Management Officer

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Jones

We are in receipt of your email of 4 October 2023, which referred to your
request for an internal review dated 11 September 2023.

The reason given for your internal review request was the Council's delay
in responding to a request for clarification dated 12 August 2023.  The
clarification request arose from our original response of 9 August 2023.

We are now able to provide the clarification requested :

‘…. please clarify two things –

3.5 floors will be occupied by council but of how many total floors?

I don't know what you mean by a zero fossil fuel system?’

Response:

Wirral Council will be occupying 3.5 floors out of a total of 4 floors.

Zero fossil fuel system means not using coal or gas.

We trust this clarifies the response.

We have now answered your enquiry in full, undertaken an internal review
and provided you with clarification.  If you are unhappy with this
response, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. If
you have any new enquires, please submit them separately rather than
correspond on this reference number to avoid confusion and ensure that it
is dealt with correctly in accordance with the FOI process.

Yours sincerely

Lynette Paterson

Principal Information Management Officer

Resources – Digital and Improvement

Wirral Council

PO Box 290
Brighton Street
Wallasey
CH27 9FQ

Email: [1][Wirral Borough Council request email]

Visit our website: [2]www.wirral.gov.uk

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Wirral Borough Council request email]
2. http://www.wirral.gov.uk/

Dear Mr Jones

We write in response to your recent internal review enquiry, in which you
specifically queried :

'As for the 3.5 of 4 floors I remain confused sorry.

I think there are two blocks, and also each has 5 floors, so I do not know
if 3.5 floors of each or of one and if for each block there is a floor not
counted in the total for some reason?'

We can confirm that both buildings have a ground floor, with four office
floors above, giving a total of five floors in each building. 

Wirral Council will be occupying the offices on 3.5 floors out of the 4
office floors in one of the buildings.  The other building will be
tenanted.

We trust this response clarifies matters and concludes your enquiry.

Yours sincerely

Lynette Paterson

Principal Information Management Officer

Finance – Digital and Improvement

Wirral Council

PO Box 290
Brighton Street
Wallasey
CH27 9FQ

Email: [1][Wirral Borough Council request email]

Visit our website: [2]www.wirral.gov.uk

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Wirral Borough Council request email]
2. http://www.wirral.gov.uk/