Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your request for information submitted under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which has been given the above mentioned reference number. Please quote this on any correspondence regarding your request.

Stockport Council will respond to your request within 20 working days from the date of receipt. If there will be a charge for disbursements e.g. photocopying in order to provide the information, we will inform you as soon as possible to see if you wish to proceed; however such charges are usually waived if they amount to less than £10.

Yours sincerely,

Simon Oldfield
Freedom of Information/ Data Protection Officer & RIPA Coordinator
Stockport Council
Town Hall
Stockport
SK1 3XE

Tel: 0161 474 4048
Fax: 0161 474 4006
http://www.stockport.gov.uk

Need further information? See our Information Management FAQs

Confidentiality: This email, its contents and any attachments are intended only for the above named. As the email may contain confidential or legally privileged information, if you are not, or suspect that you are not, the above named or the person responsible for delivery of the message to the above named, please delete or destroy the email and any attachments immediately and inform the sender of the error.

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Dear Mr Kingdon,

 

I am writing in response to your request for information (ref FOI 8303).

 

The relevant Council Service(s) has searched for the requested information
and our response is as follows.

 

Any meetings to date have been informal, and without minutes. Such
meetings fall into 2 categories, namely:

 

1)      Meetings with the Council concerning the planning policy position
which constitute pre planning application informal advice only and are
deemed to be commercially sensitive. Any e-mails associated with these
meetings are, therefore, commercially sensitive

 

2)    Meetings with the Council, Stockport Homes and the Homes &
Communities Agency concerning the potential delivery of a proposed scheme.
At this stage there are no written agreements between the parties (nothing
can be progressed beyond the informal discussions to date until the
planning position is determined), and having checked the information
shared through e-mails, again on an informal basis, I can confirm that the
very nature (sharing of information on anticipated costs and potential
delivery mechanisms) would deem these e-mails to be commercially
sensitive.

 

The commercial interests affected would be those of the showmen regarding
their potential use of the land they have purchased, the planning agent in
terms of the services they provide, and Stockport Homes in terms of the
services they are able to offer.

 

Although there may be some public interest locally in the release of this
information. There is believed to be little wider public interest in the
release of this information and not sufficient interest to override the
likely impact the release would have on the commercial interests of the
above-mentioned parties.

 

Therefore this information is exempt from disclosure by virtue of Section
43 (Commercial Interest) of the FOIA.

 

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request for
information, you are entitled to ask for an internal review; however you
must do so within 40 working days of the date of this response. Any
internal review will be carried out by a senior member of staff who was
not involved with your original request. To ask for an internal review,
contact [1][email address] in the first instance.

 

If you are unhappy with the outcome of any internal review, you are
entitled to complain to the Information Commissioner. To do so, contact:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

[2]www.ico.gov.uk

 

01625 545 745

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Simon Oldfield

Freedom of Information/ Data Protection Officer & RIPA Coordinator

Stockport Council

Town Hall

Stockport

SK1 3XE

 

Tel: 0161 474 4048

Fax: 0161 474 4006

http://www.stockport.gov.uk

 

Need further information? See our Information Management FAQs

 

Confidentiality: This email, its contents and any attachments are intended
only for the above named. As the email may contain confidential or legally
privileged information, if you are not, or suspect that you are not, the
above named or the person responsible for delivery of the message to the
above named, please delete or destroy the email and any attachments
immediately and inform the sender of the error.

 

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Dear Mr Kingdon,

 

Thank you for your request for an internal review of the abovementioned
Freedom of Information Request.

 

The Freedom of Information Act demands that reviews should be responded to
within a ‘reasonable time’.

 

Although a specific timescale is not dictated by legislation, Stockport
Council will strive to respond to your review request within 20 working
days from the date of receipt.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Simon Oldfield

Freedom of Information/ Data Protection Officer & RIPA Coordinator

Stockport Council

Town Hall

Stockport

SK1 3XE

 

Tel: 0161 474 4048

Fax: 0161 474 4006

http://www.stockport.gov.uk

 

Need further information? See our Information Management FAQs

 

Confidentiality: This email, its contents and any attachments are intended
only for the above named. As the email may contain confidential or legally
privileged information, if you are not, or suspect that you are not, the
above named or the person responsible for delivery of the message to the
above named, please delete or destroy the email and any attachments
immediately and inform the sender of the error.

 

 

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Dear Mr Kingdon,

 

I am writing in response to your request for an internal review of FOI
8303.

 

I have conducted an impartial reassessment of your original request and my
findings are as follows.

 

Background

 

The original Freedom of Information request received on 22^nd January 2014
asked:

‘The Purchasers of the proposed Show People’s Permanent Residence adjacent
to Vale road Stockport declared during one of the consultation meetings
that they had been in negotiation with Stockport Council and Stockport
Homes since 2010.  I’m requesting copies of all minutes/other records of
negotiations and decisions made after negotiations.’

The Council responded that it was unable to comply with the request for
minutes as any discussions had been informal relating to either of 2
issues:

1.    Meetings between the purchasers and the Council concerning the
planning policy position.

2.    Meetings with the Council, Stockport Homes and the Homes &
Communities Agency concerning the potential delivery of a proposed scheme.

 

The Council responded that it was unable to comply with the request for
other records of negotiations, which were in the form of e-mail
correspondence between the different parties, on the grounds that the
release of information is likely to affect three parties’ commercial
interests:

 

·      The showmen regarding the potential use of the land they have
purchased

·      The planning agent in terms of the services they provide

·      Stockport Homes in terms of the services they are able to offer

Although there was likely to be some local public interest in the release
of the information, it was not believed that this was sufficient to
override the likely impact the release would have on the commercial
interests of the above-mentioned parties.

 

In the light of the above, it was judged that the information requested
was exempt from disclosure by virtue of Section 43 (Commercial Interest)
of the FOIA.

 

An internal review was requested by the original correspondent on 3
grounds:

 

·      That a Section 43 Exemption can only be used on portions of
documents or notes, not as a blanket redaction of all information.

·      That there is not an adequate description of the nature and extent
of the commercial prejudice(s) identified, which the Council are duty
bound to consider and replay on.

·      That the public interest test has not been applied correctly, given
that ‘there are many thousands of people, a vast majority of whom are
local to the site in question, who have expressed their opinions and
objects via petitions and the Council’s own planning website.

 

Review

 

I have reviewed all the correspondence relating to the original request
and request for the review in the light of guidance from the Information
Commissioners Office.  I have upheld the decision that the information
requested is exempt from disclosure by virtue of Section 43 (Commercial
Interest) of the FOIA on the following grounds:

 

Public Interest

 

I do not feel that disclosure of information from informal discussions
between the purchasers of the land and the Council regarding the planning
policy position would further the understanding of, and participation in
the debate of this issue.  Information on the national and local planning
policy framework is publicly available on the Council website and relevant
policy considerations would be fully addressed at the formal planning
application stage.

 

I do not feel that disclosure of information from informal discussions
between the purchasers of the land and the Council regarding planning
policy position would facilitate the accountability and transparency of
public authorities and decisions taken by them. Once the planning
application was finalised, the proposed Show People’s Permanent Residence
adjacent to Vale Road Stockport would subsequently be subject to an open
and transparent planning application process where relevant information
and policy considerations would be available in the public domain prior to
a democratic decision making process.

 

I do not feel that disclosure of informal discussions between the Council,
Stockport Homes and the Homes & Communities Agency would facilitate
accountability and transparency in the spending of public money.  As the
information requested related to informal discussions about a potential
scheme, rather than a firm commitment of resources to a project, I do not
believe that disclosure meets the public interest test in relation to
spending of public money.

 

I do not feel that disclosure of the information requested would enable
individuals to more fully understand decisions made by public authorities
affecting their lives or assist individuals in challenging those
decisions.  The proposed scheme is subject to a formal fully transparent
planning application process, where detailed information and opportunity
to comment is provided.

 

I do not consider issues of public safety to be pertinent to this request.

 

Commercial Interests

 

I feel that the commercial interests of the land purchaser are likely to
be harmed by the release of information from informal discussions between
them and the Council regarding the planning policy decision as it could
open up the opportunity for another landowner to offer more favourable
terms for the Show People’s Permanent Residence scheme, when the land has
been purchased by the current owner with a view to progressing this
scheme.

 

I feel that the commercial interests of the planning agent are likely to
be harmed by the release of information from the informal discussions
between them, the purchaser and the Council regarding the planning policy
decision as it could open up the opportunity for an agent acting for
another developer to propose an alternative scheme.

 

I feel that release of information from informal discussions between the
Council, Stockport Homes Limited and the Homes & Communities Agency is
likely to harm the interests of Stockport Homes Limited as it could
present the opportunity for an alternative provider to develop the scheme
on more favourable terms.

 

On the basis of the information I have reviewed, I conclude that the
likely harm to commercial interests of 3 third party organisations
outweighs the potential public interest considerations, given that a
formal planning application for the scheme would need to be pursued.  This
would involve of the publication of information relevant to the scheme and
provide the opportunity to interested parties to ‘have their say’ in
advance of a democratic decision being taken.

 

I therefore uphold the decision to exempt the information requested under
Section 43 (Commercial Interest) of the FOIA.

 

If you are unhappy with the outcome of any internal review, you are
entitled to complain to the Information Commissioner. To do so, contact:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

[1]www.ico.gov.uk

 

01625 545 745

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Peter Ashworth

Head of Culture & Leisure

Stockport Council

 

 

Need further information? See our Information Management [2]FAQs
 

Confidentiality: This email, its contents and any attachments are
intended only for the above named. As the email may contain confidential
or legally privileged information, if you are not, or suspect that you are
not, the above named or the person responsible for delivery of the message
to the above named, please delete or destroy the email and any attachments
immediately and inform the sender of the error.

 

From: Simon Oldfield On Behalf Of FOI Officer
Sent: 28 February 2014 11:43
To: 'Nigel Kingdon'
Cc: FOI Officer
Subject: FOI 8303 - Internal review of Freedom of Information request -
aCKNOWLEDGEMENT

 

Dear Mr Kingdon,

 

Thank you for your request for an internal review of the abovementioned
Freedom of Information Request.

 

The Freedom of Information Act demands that reviews should be responded to
within a ‘reasonable time’.

 

Although a specific timescale is not dictated by legislation, Stockport
Council will strive to respond to your review request within 20 working
days from the date of receipt.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Simon Oldfield

Freedom of Information/ Data Protection Officer & RIPA Coordinator

Stockport Council

Town Hall

Stockport

SK1 3XE

 

Tel: 0161 474 4048

Fax: 0161 474 4006

[3]http://www.stockport.gov.uk

 

Need further information? See our Information Management FAQs

 

Confidentiality: This email, its contents and any attachments are intended
only for the above named. As the email may contain confidential or legally
privileged information, if you are not, or suspect that you are not, the
above named or the person responsible for delivery of the message to the
above named, please delete or destroy the email and any attachments
immediately and inform the sender of the error.

 

 

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