Projected maintenance costs for relocation project

The request was partially successful.

Dear Ms Symington,

Further to my FOI request of 4th February (answered 7th July) 2015:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/m...

I would like to make a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I am also making this Request under the Environmental Impact Regulations 2004 which require disclosure on the part of Local Authorities.

I would like you to provide me with the following information:

> the projected annual maintenance costs for the new-build at Honiton and the refurbished Town Hall at Exmouth, as part of the Council's relocation project.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Jeremy Woodward

East Devon District Council

Thank you for submitting a request for information. We will respond to your request as quickly as possible, within the 20 working day statutory deadline under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

For updates on this case, please quote your unique reference number 101000384158 .

---------------------------------------
Customer Service Centre
East Devon District Council
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East Devon District Council

Dear Mr Woodward,

Thank you for your request for information. Please find the response to your query below.

You asked for the projected annual maintenance costs for the new-build at Honiton and the refurbished town hall at Exmouth, as part of the Council's re-location project.

Details of the anticipated maintenance costs for both the new office at Honiton and the refurbished town hall at Exmouth were included in a report to Cabinet in March 2015. This report can be accessed here http://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/939266/110....

In particular, please refer to Appendix 3, which identifies projected annual running costs betterment over a twenty year period, including maintenance costs.

I hope this provides you with the information you need.

If you feel dissatisfied with the way we have responded to your request, please contact our Monitoring Officer to request an internal review at [email address]

You may also approach the Information Commissioner for advice at www.ico.gov.uk

Kate Symington
Information and Complaints Officer
East Devon District Council

01395 517417
www.eastdevon.gov.uk

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East Devon District Council

Thank you for submitting a request for information. We will respond to your request as quickly as possible, within the 20 working day statutory deadline under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

For updates on this case, please quote your unique reference number 101000386709 .

---------------------------------------
Customer Service Centre
East Devon District Council
Web: www.eastdevon.gov.uk

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Dear Ms Symington,

Having looked through http://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/939266/110...

I would be grateful if you could provide me with the following documentation which is referred to in the above:

A number of supporting reports and spreadsheets that inform the above, including:
o 20130604 Knowle Energy Use and Maintenance Cost Analysis Report Final.pdf
o EDDC Office Accommodation – Rates Evaluations FY 14 15. Rev E 9 Feb 2015.xls
o Spatial analysis_Rev I-3,352 m2desk.pdf
o b1. Copy of 141029 DG EDDC New Offices – Order of Costs Rev A – 2776 m2 GIA – 2,776
m2 New Office.xls
o b2. Copy of 141029 DG EDDC New Offices – Order of Costs Rev J – 3352 m2 GIA – 3,352
m2 New Office.xls
o c1. EDDC Office Accommodation – Cashflow – Heathpark – 2,776 m2 New Office
BREEAM VG – Rev E – 3 December 2014.xls
o c2. EDDC Office Accommodation – Cashflow – Heathpark – 2,776 m2 New Office
BREEAM EX – Rev D – 3 December 2014.xls
o c3. EDDC Office Accommodation – Cashflow – Heathpark – 3,352 m2 New Office
BREEAM VG – Rev D – 3 December 2014.xls
o c4. EDDC Office Accommodation – Cashflow – Heathpark – 3,352 m2 New Office
BREEAM EX – Rev D – 3 December 2014.xls
o Annual Running Costs – Reference Scenario (+ Knowle Ess Reprs) Rev C – 27 1 15.xlsx

>>> I would like these to be made available in their original electronic versions and not in their scanned versions.

Thank you.
I look forward to hearing from you .
Yours sincerely,

Jeremy Woodward

Customer Service Centre, East Devon District Council

Good morning Mr Woodward,

Thank you for your enquiry. I have forwarded your email to the Kate Symington for her attention.

Kind Regards
Zoe
Customer Services
Email: [email address]
Tel: 01395 516551
Website: www.eastdevon.gov.uk

show quoted sections

East Devon District Council

Thank you for submitting a request for information. We will respond to your request as quickly as possible, within the 20 working day statutory deadline under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

For updates on this case, please quote your unique reference number 101000409930 .

---------------------------------------
Customer Service Centre
East Devon District Council
Web: www.eastdevon.gov.uk

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East Devon District Council

Dear Mr Woodward,

Thank you for your request for information. Your request concerns energy usage and land-use and so has been considered under the Environmental Information Regulations.

You asked for the following information:

o 20130604 Knowle Energy Use and Maintenance Cost Analysis Report Final.pdf o EDDC Office Accommodation ? Rates Evaluations FY 14 15. Rev E 9 Feb 2015.xls o Spatial analysis_Rev I-3,352 m2desk.pdf o b1.
This document is available here http://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/1228693/28...

Copy of 141029 DG EDDC New Offices ? Order of Costs Rev A ? 2776 m2 GIA ? 2,776
m2 New Office.xls
This document is due for future publication and is currently exempt from disclosure under Regulation 12(5)(e)

o b2. Copy of 141029 DG EDDC New Offices ? Order of Costs Rev J ? 3352 m2 GIA ? 3,352
m2 New Office.xls
This document is due for future publication and is currently exempt from disclosure under Regulation 12(5)(e)

o c1. EDDC Office Accommodation ? Cashflow ? Heathpark ? 2,776 m2 New Office BREEAM VG ? Rev E ? 3 December 2014.xls o c2. EDDC Office Accommodation ? Cashflow ? Heathpark ? 2,776 m2 New Office BREEAM EX ? Rev D ? 3 December 2014.xls o c3. EDDC Office Accommodation ? Cashflow ? Heathpark ? 3,352 m2 New Office BREEAM VG ? Rev D ? 3 December 2014.xls o c4. EDDC Office Accommodation ? Cashflow ? Heathpark ? 3,352 m2 New Office BREEAM EX ? Rev D ? 3 December 2014.xls o Annual Running Costs ? Reference Scenario (+ Knowle Ess Reprs) Rev C ? 27 1 15.xlsx
These documents are due for future publication and are currently exempt from disclosure under Regulation 12(5)(e)

The above cost and cash flow documents are considered to be exempt from disclosure under Regulation 12(5)(e). These documents inlcude a level of detail regarding build cost assumptions, the wider disclosure of which would undermine tender negotiation and our ability to secure value for money and best price. The information will be published in our re-location document archive when the commercial confidentiality is no longer an issue.

I am sorry that some of this information cannot be provided.

If you feel dissatisfied with our response to your request, please contact our Monitoring Officer to request an internal review at [email address]

You may also approach the Information Commissioner for advice at www.ico.gov.uk

Kate Symington
Information and Complaints Officer
East Devon District Council

01395 517417
www.eastdevon.gov.uk

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Dear Ms Symington,

Thank you for your reply.

I have researched EIR 12(5)(e): https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

Paragraphs 'Public interest in disclosure' 65-67 state the following:

65. There will always be some public interest in disclosure to promote transparency and accountability of public authorities, greater public awareness and understanding of environmental matters, a free exchange of views, and more effective public participation in environmental decision making, all of which ultimately contribute to a better environment.

66. Regulation 12(5)(e) often arises in relation to planning matters. The Commissioner considers that the particular public interest in public participation in planning matters is likely to carry a significant amount of weight in favour of disclosure in such cases.

67. There may of course be other factors in favour of disclosure, depending on the particular circumstances of the case. For example, these could include accountability for spending public money, the number of people affected by a proposal, any reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing, or any potential conflict of interest.

It is clearly the opinion of the Council's Principal Solicitor (who is also the Council's Monitoring Officer) that these do not apply in this case. I have contacted the Information Commissioner's Office directly for clarification.

Secondly, I also made this request under the FOI Act. I would therefore like you to consider this request under the Act as required. If the Council is of the opinion that it is exempt under the FOI Act I would like you to specify the reasons. Thank you.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Jeremy Woodward

Kate Symington, East Devon District Council

Mr Woodward

For clarification, your request has been treated under the Environmental Information Regulations because it concerns energy usage and land-use which is "environmental information."

If you feel dissatisfied with our response, please contact our Monitoring Officer to request an internal review.

Regards

Kate

Mrs Kate Symington
Information and Complaints Officer
East Devon District Council

01395 517417
www.eastdevon.gov.uk

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Dear Ms Symington,

Thank you for your reply.

However, this is hardly a full answer to my request for clarification.

Whilst I await clarification from the Information Commissioner's Office, I would indeed like the Council to undertake an Internal Review.

Yours sincerely,

Jeremy Woodward

Kate Symington, East Devon District Council

This is an automated reply.

 

Please note that I will not be able to respond to your message until
Tuesday 3rd November 2015.

 

If you wish to make a complaint or submit a request for information under
the Freedom of Information Act, please refer to our website at
[1]www.eastdevon.gov.uk or phone 01395 516551 during office hours.

 

 

 

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References

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1. file:///tmp/www.eastdevon.gov.uk

Dear East Devon District Council,

It is now 20 working days since I asked for an Internal Review.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Jeremy Woodward

Henry Gordon Lennox, East Devon District Council

Mr Woodward,

 

I am sorry that you feel dissatisfied with our response to your request
for information.

 

You asked for the following detail:

 

A number of supporting reports and spreadsheets inlcuding:

0  20130604 Knowle Energy Use and Maintenance Cost Analysis Report
Final.pdf
o EDDC Office Accommodation – Rates Evaluations FY 14 15. Rev E 9 Feb
2015.xls
o Spatial analysis_Rev I-3,352 m2desk.pdf
o b1. Copy of 141029 DG EDDC New Offices – Order of Costs Rev A – 2776 m2
GIA – 2,776 m2 New Office.xls
o b2. Copy of 141029 DG EDDC New Offices – Order of Costs Rev J –3352 m2
GIA – 3,352m2 New Office.xls
o c1. EDDC Office Accommodation – Cashflow – Heathpark – 2,776 m2New
Office BREEAM VG – Rev E – 3 December 2014.xls
o c2. EDDC Office Accommodation – Cashflow – Heathpark – 2,776 m2 New
Office BREEAM EX – Rev D – 3 December 2014.xls
o c3. EDDC Office Accommodation – Cashflow – Heathpark – 3,352 m2 New
Office BREEAM VG – Rev D – 3 December 2014.xls
o c4. EDDC Office Accommodation – Cashflow – Heathpark – 3,352 m2 New
Office BREEAM EX – Rev D – 3 December 2014.xls
o Annual Running Costs – Reference Scenario (+ Knowle Ess Reprs) Rev C –
27 1 15.xlsx

 

In response a link was provided to the Knowle Energy use and Maintenance
cost analysis report.

 

In respect of the other documents, whilst we have identified that these
will be published online when appropriate, we have withheld them at this
time for reasons of commercial confidentiality. The reason given for this
is that these documents contain a level of detail regarding build cost
assumptions the disclosure of which would undermine tender negotiation and
the Council’s ability to secure value for money and best price.

 

In your response you have quoted from guidance on the Information
Commissioner’s website relating to Regulation 12(5)(e) of the
Environmental Information Regulations and queried whether we have
sufficiently considered the public interest test.

 

The basis for our refusal to disclose this level of detail at this point
in the re-location project is to protect the public purse. By disclosing
this detail at this stage, we would be undermining the Council’s ability
to negotiate the best possible price for building and development. We are
publishing a great deal of information in order to keep the public
informed about this process but we would argue that the disclosure of this
level of detail during a live project is not in the wider public interest.

 

We have treated your request under the Environmental Information
Regulations because it relates to land-use and development matters. There
is a comparable exemption under the separate regime of Freedom of
Information and this is s43(2).

 

Should you remain dissatisfied with our consideration of your request, you
have the right to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

HENRY GORDON LENNOX

 

Monitoring Officer

East Devon District Council

Tel: 01395 517401

Ext: 2601

Email: [1][email address]

 

 

 

References

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1. mailto:[email address]

Dear Mr Gordon Lennox,

The Information Commissioner has now released its Decision Notice on Case: FER0608237
"Projected maintenance costs for relocation project"

The ICO say that the Council are not required to produce the spreadsheets in full - but are nevertheless required to publish the following:

"To disclose the price that the developer is prepared to pay for the land from the cash flow documents which the council withheld."

I would also like to draw your attention to the ‘Conclusions’ of the Decision Notice:

"53. There is a public interest in protecting the public purse, in this case this is balanced in this case against the public interest in allowing the public to scrutinise the council’s decisions and financial assumptions about the project to develop new offices for itself. This latter aspect clearly raises the level of transparency which would be expected as the council could be seen to be spending public money on its own facilities, for its own purposes. It has argued that it needs to change offices as overall, doing so would save the public money compared to staying in its current offices. The public however cannot know whether this is true without further information being open for them to scrutinise."

To quote from the ICO website, which summarises the Decision Notice:

“East Devon District Council
25 October 2016, Local government (District council)
The complainant requested documents relating to the councils plan to build new offices for itself. Various documents were requested. The council disclosed some however other documents were withheld under Regulation 12(5)(e). The council argues that these contain the price bid for the land where the current council offices are situated, and estimated costs which the council has drawn together for the development of its new offices. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council has correctly applied Regulation 12(5)(e) to the costs assumptions and under the circumstances of the case the public interest rests in maintaining the exception in this case. He has however decided that the council was not correct to apply Regulation 12(5)(e) to the conditional price agreed with the developer, Pegasus, for the land. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: to disclose the relevant documents, excluding sections which provide details of the councils cost assumptions.”
https://search.ico.org.uk/ico/search/dec...
https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...

I would be grateful if you could let me know when and how you will be releasing this information.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
Jeremy Woodward

Henry Gordon Lennox, East Devon District Council

Dear Mr Woodward,

The Council is currently considering the ICO's decision notice and we will confirm our position in due course. You will note the timescales that have been set out in the Decision Notice.

Yours sincerely,

HENRY GORDON LENNOX

Strategic Lead (Legal, Licensing and Democratic Services) and Monitoring Officer
East Devon District Council
Tel: 01395 517401
Ext: 2601
Email: [email address]

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Dear Mr Gordon Lennox,
As I have not heard from you or the ICO today, Tuesday 22nd November, I can assume, therefore, that you will be publishing the documentation as stipulated in the Decision Notice.
> “Any Notice of Appeal should be served on the Tribunal within 28 (calendar) days of the date on which this decision notice is sent.”
(That is, if the District Council choses to take the case to the Tribunal, they have to do this within 4 weeks = Tuesday 22nd November deadline to declare that intention.)
> “The public authority must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice.”
(35 days from the publication date Tuesday 25th October = 5 weeks = Tuesday 29th November deadline to publish the documentation.)
I would be grateful if you could confirm that you will be publishing the documentation over the next seven days – and that you will be providing me with this on this website as part of this thread.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Jeremy Woodward