Supporting evidence for the existence of ongoing negotiations between any Peel Company and any interested investor including local Authority bodies for the sale of Doncaster Sheffield Airport

Dear Secretary of State for Transport
I would like to ask a question under the Freedom of Information Act.
In November 2022, you said “There are, I understand, people who have made an offer for the airport. I've encouraged them to look seriously at the bid that's on the table. We've urged them to take that bid seriously, and I hope that's what they will do”. This implied you have seen evidence to support this.
More recently, the Department have made reference to the question in a letter saying "The Department continues to encourage local leaders and Peel Group to work together to find a solution for the site that will benefit local people and the region's economy”.
My question is, have you, or any officials within the Department for Transport, or indeed any relevant Department, for example the Department for Levelling Up, seen any evidence from Doncaster Council, the South Yorkshire Combined Authority, Mayor Oliver Coppard, Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones or any representation from Peel Holdings official, legal, financial or otherwise, and disclose can any correspondence to this effect between the Government and any of the parties aforementioned regarding the matter below
1. Any evidence as at your communication in November 2022, the existence of an investor or interested investor, consortium or otherwise of negotiations between any Peel Group company for the sale of the land formerly known as Doncaster Sheffield Airport on the site of former RAF Finningley as a going concern, for clarity, this is negotiations for the ongoing use as a commercial or cargo airport.
2. Any evidence as of 8 March 2023, that negotiations between any Peel Group company and any previous investor or investors mentioned in point 1, any new investor since those talks (for clarity, this is any new investor since November which have never previously been in negotiations), any relevant local authority such as Doncaster Council or the SYMCA,
a) Are today still ongoing such that any closure of airspace has been paused for this reason
b) That negotiations or otherwise suggest that Peel are in negotiations for either the sale of the land, or any talks which suggest that the land is planning a change of use as a commercial airport.
Please do not hesitate to contact me to clarify my request.

Yours faithfully,

Wai Ming Yau

Dear AirportsPolicy,

Thank you for your swift response to[ DfT Ref: P0022106]

I would like to thank you for clarifying the situation regarding the airspace.

For the main purpose of the request I would like to clarify the following points.
TIME
Point 1 refers to the timepoint in November 2022
Point 2 refers to the current timepoint which at the date of writing was 8 March 2023 but that can be updated to 16 March 2023 by the time this is received.

EVIDENCE FROM
1. Doncaster City Council or any representative including Chief Executive Officer Damian Allen.
2. Any official within the Department for Transport including any Secretary of State, Ministers of State and the Permanent Secretary.
3. Any official or representative of South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).
4. South Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayor either former Mayor Dan Jarvis or current Mayor Oliver Coppard or anyone on behalf of the Mayor's office.
5. Doncaster City Council Mayor Ros Jones or anyone on behalf of the Mayor's office.
6. Any representation from Peel Holdings or any of Peel's Group companies official, legal, financial or otherwise, for clarification, this means any Peel Group company or representation whereby and including the parent group of Peel Holdings have a controlling interest (control of more than 50% of the voting capital), or significant interest (20-50% of the voting capital), including all subsidiaries and includes Doncaster Sheffield Airport Limited and any investment vehicle holding Doncaster Sheffield Airport's assets including the runway and terminal buildings whether arms length or some other financial presentation.

I would like to add any of the MPs or their representatives for Doncaster, that is Edward Miliband Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero and MP for Doncaster North, Dame Rosalie Winterton DBE and MP for Doncaster Central and Nicholas Fletcher MP for Don Valley.

To repeat the request and for clarification, any evidence in the form of communication, email, letter or any form of communication that can be construed as evidence, whether disclosable or not, and if this is verbal, for this to be clearly stated as per the original request
1. Any evidence as at your communication in November 2022, the existence of an investor or interested investor, consortium or otherwise of negotiations between any Peel Group company for the sale of the land formerly known as Doncaster Sheffield Airport on the site of former RAF Finningley as a going concern, for clarity, this is negotiations for the ongoing use as a commercial or cargo airport.
2. Any evidence as of 8 March 2023, that negotiations between any Peel Group company and any previous investor or investors mentioned in point 1, any new investor since those talks (for clarity, this is any new investor since November which have never previously been in negotiations), any relevant local authority such as Doncaster Council or the SYMCA,
a) Are today still ongoing such that any closure of airspace has been paused for this reason
b) That negotiations or otherwise suggest that Peel are in negotiations for either the sale of the land, or any talks which suggest that the land is planning a change of use as a commercial airport.
Please do not hesitate to contact me to clarify my request.

Yours sincerely,

Wai Ming Yau

Dear AirportsPolicy,

P0022106

Can I just have an addendum for both points 1 or 2?

Any evidence of a commercial offer or an offer from either of the bodies Doncaster City Council or the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority on the historic date in point 1 or the current date, whether rejected or not.

Yours sincerely,

Wai Ming Yau

Dear AirportsPolicy, re F0022106
I am happy for any parties to be censored if it is commercially sensitive but would like a response which meets the requirements of the question.

Yours sincerely,

Wai Ming Yau

Dear Department for Transport,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Transport's handling of my FOI request 'Supporting evidence for the existence of ongoing negotiations between any Peel Company and any interested investor including local Authority bodies for the sale of Doncaster Sheffield Airport'.

Given the current situation where there are no parties at the table and no commercial negotiations exist, the questions could have been answered without prejudice to any negotiations by simply omitting the details which has caused the answer to be withheld.
Examples of this was the presence of a bidder in Novembe, of which this has the bidder has been withdrawn.

Answers could have been provided without revealing the identity or amounts.

This could have been answered in part.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

Wai Ming Yau