Statistics about suggested sites for new WCFC stadium, 21/1/16 - 31/10/16
Dear Worcester City Council,
During the period 21/1/16 to 31/10/16 I believe the council attempted to find a suitable site for Worcester City Football Club to build a stadium, other than Perdiswell Park.
During that time (21/1/16 - 31/10/16), could you tell me:
i) how many potential sites in total, other than Perdiswell Park, were suggested to Worcester City Football Club and WCFC Supporters Trust?
ii) how many of these potential sites were owned by Worcester City Council?
iii) how many of these potential sites were owned by Worcestershire County Council?
iv) how many of these potential sites were privately owned (ie: by a company, organisation or person other than the authorities specified above)?
v) how many of these potential sites were brownfield land?
vi) how many of these potential sites were visited by representatives of Worcester City Football Club and/or WCFC Supporters Trust (that you are aware of)?
vii) how many of these potential sites were refused by both Worcester City Football Club and WCFC Supporters Trust?
viii) how many of these sites were refused by WCFC Supporters Trust but considered potentially acceptable by Worcester City Football Club?
ix) what reasons were given for the various sites not being suitable (eg: location, requirement to buy, cost of renting/leasing, lack of transport infrastructure)?
I believe these questions should be straightforward to answer because they are mainly simple statistics relating to information which should be held in council documentation/reports.
If the information I have requested exceeds the threshold for what is deemed to be 'reasonable assistance' in this matter, please communicate any costings involved in supplying the information requested in its entirety and suggest how my request may be modified to satisfy requirements.
I greatly appreciate your assistance and cooperation.
Yours faithfully,
S Hodges
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24/03/2017
Our Ref: 20170184/WW
Email: [2][Worcester City Council request email]
Dear S Hodges,
Thank you for your below Freedom of Information request sent to Worcester
City Council.
Response:
During the period 21/1/16 to 31/10/16 I believe the council attempted to
find a suitable site for Worcester City Football Club to build a stadium,
other than Perdiswell Park.
During that time (21/1/16 - 31/10/16), could you tell me:
i) how many potential sites in total, other than Perdiswell
Park, were suggested to Worcester City Football Club and WCFC Supporters
Trust?
ii) how many of these potential sites were owned by Worcester
City Council?
iii) how many of these potential sites were owned by
Worcestershire County Council?
iv) how many of these potential sites were privately owned (ie: by
a company, organisation or person other than the authorities specified
above)?
v) how many of these potential sites were brownfield land?
vi) how many of these potential sites were visited by
representatives of Worcester City Football Club and/or WCFC Supporters
Trust (that you are aware of)?
vii) how many of these potential sites were refused by both
Worcester City Football Club and WCFC Supporters Trust?
viii) how many of these sites were refused by WCFC Supporters Trust
but considered potentially acceptable by Worcester City Football Club?
ix) what reasons were given for the various sites not being
suitable (eg: location, requirement to buy, cost of renting/leasing, lack
of transport infrastructure)?
Worcester City Council does hold a range of information that falls within
the scope of this request. However, in accordance with Section 41 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 this information is exempt as disclosure
would constitute a breach of confidence and that legal action could be
brought against the authority for its release.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted no later than two months from the date of our response to your
original request. These requests should be sent by email to
[3][Worcester City Council request email] or to the following postal address:
The Monitoring Officer
Worcester City Council
The Guildhall
High Street
Worcester
WR1 2EY
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.If you have any queries about this request please do not hesitate to
contact us. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any
future communications.
Yours sincerely,
William Wade
FOI Team
Dear Worcester City Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews (The Monitoring Officer).
I am writing to request an internal review of Worcester City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Statistics about suggested sites for new WCFC stadium, 21/1/16 - 31/10/16'.
My request for information has been refused on the grounds that the information is exempt as "disclosure would constitute a breach of confidence" (Section 41 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000).
This request is mainly for statistics about the suggested sites rather than about specific information of the sites, so I am not convinced this constitutes a breach of confidence.
For example, I asked how many potential sites in total, other than Perdiswell Park, were suggested to Worcester City Football Club and WCFC Supporters Trust? Information that it is "more than 12 other locations" is already in the public domain (eg: in the Worcester News or see http://citybanterboard.proboards.com/thr..., found using a search engine) so surely providing the exact number is not a breach of confidence?
I believe that at least parts of this request for information do not constitute a breach of confidence and are therefore not exempt from being answered.
I am therefore requesting an internal review about the handling of my FOI request.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...
Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
Yours faithfully,
S Hodges
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21/04/2017
Our Ref: 20170184/WW/IR
Email: [2][Worcester City Council request email]
Dear S Hodges,
Thank you for your below request for an internal review of the response
you received to your Freedom of Information request sent to Worcester City
Council.
Please find attached response to your internal review and associated
attachments referred to.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.If you have any queries about this request please do not hesitate to
contact us. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any
future communications.
Yours sincerely,
William Wade
FOI Team
Hodges left an annotation ()
The ICO instructed Worcester City Council to disclose most of the information held (ie: they should not have refused my request). They were unable to send it to this site because of the status (refused), but a copy was sent to the ICO and passed on to me.
Dear William Wade/FOI team,
As you know, I complained to the ICO about your refusal to supply any information to my FOI request. In March the ICO published a decision which found breaches of 4 regulations of the EIR (Decision Notice- FS50691864).
Ms Archer, Senior Policy Officer at the ICO, has written to tell me that you had been in touch noting that the What Do They Know address has closed.
The What Do They Know team have told me that "If a public body tried to send a response to that request they'd have got a message saying we'd re-open it on request".
The request is open. Please respond to the request ASAP.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
S Hodges
Dear S Hodges,
Thank you for your below email. Please find attached the Council’s amended
response following the decision notice (FS50691864) issued by the ICO,
which I attempted to send to you on 3^rd April 2018.
Many Thanks
William Wade
FOI TEAM
Worcester City Council
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Hodges left an annotation ()
ICO contacted 19/7/17 about refusal.