Target Allocation Policy
Dear Croydon Borough Council,
Please would you provide a copy of your most recent Target Allocation Policy and the two previous policies. If there is a future policy that is available please also provide that.
Please also provide a link to if this is published on the council website.
Thank you very much for your assistance,
Yours faithfully,
R Hughes
Information Team Croydon
Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Bernard Wetherill House
7th Floor, Zone B
Croydon
CR0 1EA
Contact: Information Team
[Croydon Borough Council request email]
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email. If
you have a processing request, please ensure you quote that reference in
your emails to us.
Dear R Hughes
Freedom of information request - FOI/8434
Subject: FOI - Target allocation policy
Your request is being considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days, subject to the application of
any exemptions. Where consideration is being given to exemptions the 20
working day timescale may be extended to a period considered reasonable
depending on the nature and circumstances of your request. In such cases
you will be notified and, where possible, a revised time-scale will be
indicated. In all cases we shall attempt to deal with your request at the
earliest opportunity.
If we are unable to provide you with the information requested we will
notify you of this together with the reason(s) why, and details of how you
may appeal.
Please note that the directorate team may contact you for further
information where we believe that the request is not significantly clear
for us to respond fully.
Kind Regard
Information Management Team
Croydon Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
7th Floor, Zone B
Bernard Weatherill House
8 Mint Walk
Croydon CR0 1EA
Information Team Croydon
Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Bernard Wetherill House
7th Floor, Zone B
Croydon
CR0 1EA
Contact: Information Team
[Croydon Borough Council request email]
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email. If
you have a processing request, please ensure you quote that reference in
your emails to us.
Dear R Hughes
FOI/8434
Subject: FOI - Target allocation policy
Freedom of Information request or EIR
Thank you for your recent request for information. This is to inform you
that we are unable to answer your request based on what you have
requested.
Could you please clarify in greater detail what the policy you are
requesting information on is.
Kindly be informed that the time for processing your request stops until
we hear from you. Please quote the above reference in your correspondence
with us. In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the
case, either myself or a colleague will let you know the likely charges
before proceeding.
If we do not hear from you within the next 20 working days we will close
your request.
Please provide your clarification by responding to this email. Please do
not amend the Subject line.
Kind Regard
Information Management Team
Croydon Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
7th Floor, Zone B
Bernard Weatherill House
8 Mint Walk
Croydon CR0 1EA
Dear Information Management Team,
Thank you for seeking clarity.
The Target Allocation Policy is referenced in the Croydon housing allocation policy under point 22 (pasted below). You can find link to the policy kindly provided by your team here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/9....
I have been unable to locate the Target Allocation Policy on the website.
Thank you for the assistance,
___________________________________________________________
Reasonable preference
20. We are required to give reasonable preference13 in the scheme to people
with high levels of assessed housing need, for example:
people who need to move on welfare or medical grounds (including
grounds relating to a disability),
people who need to move to a particular area of the borough to avoid
hardship to themselves or others,
people living in unsanitary, unsatisfactory or overcrowded housing, and
people who are homeless within the meaning of the Housing Act 1996,
and people who are owed a particular statutory duty by any local housing
authority under section 190(2), 193(2) or 195(2) (or under section 65(2) or
68(2) of the Housing Act 1985 or who are occupying accommodation
secured by any such authority under section 192(3).
21. We can allocate properties to people who do not fall within the reasonable
preference groups (for example tenants who are underoccupying their
current homes); however, we must ensure we provide a reasonable
proportion of allocations to the different reasonable preference groups on
10 Section 168(1), Housing Act 1996
11 Section 168(2), Housing At 1996
12 Section 166A(12), Housing Act 1996
13 Section 166A(3), Housing Act 1996
6
the housing register, and ensure that one group does not dominate the
scheme.
22. To achieve this and to make sure we strike the right balance of allocations
between reasonable preference groups we draw up an annual lettings
plan, known as the Target Allocation Policy, and the allocations we make
are monitored against this plan.
23. The Target Allocations Policy is monitored and reviewed regularly. If
monitoring shows that we are not achieving the allocation targets set out
in the policy, we reserve the right to implement a quota system until we
get back on track.
24. We publish the Target Allocation Plan on the council’s website
www.croydon.gov.uk
Yours sincerely,
R Hughes
Information Team Croydon
Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Bernard Wetherill House
7th Floor, Zone B
Croydon
CR0 1EA
Contact: Information Team
[Croydon Borough Council request email]
Dear R Hughes
Request FOI/8434
Further to your request received on 11/10/2023, I confirm that the Council
has now considered your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your request.
Specifically, you have requested the following information:
Please would you provide a copy of your most recent Target Allocation
Policy and the two previous policies. If there is a future policy that is
available please also provide that.
The Target Allocation Policy is referenced in the Croydon housing
allocation policy under point 22 (pasted below). You can find link to the
policy kindly provided by your team here:
[1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/9....
I have been unable to locate the Target Allocation Policy on the website.
But please provide a link to if this is published on the council website
Our repsonse:
Please see link below for access to the policies
[2]Housing Allocations Scheme - 2019 (croydon.gov.uk)
The Council publishes Access to Information requests and responses on its
online Disclosure Log. (Any request included within this log will be
anonymised appropriately)
To view the Council’s Disclosure Log, please visit our website available
here:
[3]The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act | Croydon Council
(disclosure-log.co.uk)
If you are dissatisfied with the way the Council has handled your request
under the Freedom of Information Act you may ask for an internal review.
This should be submitted to us within 40 working days of this response.
You can do this by outlining the details of your complaint by:
Email: [4][Croydon Borough Council request email]
Writing: Information Team
London Borough of Croydon
Bernard Weatherill House
Floor 7 - Zone B
8 Mint Walk
Croydon, CR0 1EA
Any requests received after the 40 working day time limit will be
considered only at the discretion of the council.
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
Yours sincerely,
Louise Edwards
Information Team
Croydon Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Bernard Wetherill House,
Mint Walk,
Croydon,
CR0 1EA
[5][Croydon Borough Council request email]
[6][email address]
References
Visible links
1. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/9...
2. https://www.croydon.gov.uk/sites/default...
3. https://croydon.disclosure-log.co.uk/
4. mailto:[Croydon Borough Council request email]
5. mailto:[Croydon Borough Council request email]
6. mailto:[email address]
Dear [email address],
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I can not see the link to the Target Allocation information and can only see a mention of the Allocation Policy.
Please would you double check your response? thank you again for your assistance,
Yours sincerely,
R Hughes
Dear R Hughes,
Thank you for your email. I have checked the response which we sent out
and can confirm the link was provided and is located under your your
highlighted request. However I will leave the link below , if there are
any other issues please don't hesitate to contact us.
Link: [1]Housing Allocations Scheme - 2019 (croydon.gov.uk)
Kind regards,
Information Co-ordinator
Dear [email address],
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I can not see the link to the Target Allocation information and can only
see a mention of the Allocation Policy.
Please would you double check your response? thank you again for your
assistance,
Yours sincerely,
R Hughes
Dear [email address],
The information doesn't include the policy that is requested. Sections 22, 23 and 24 of the Housing Allocation Policy mentions the Target Allocation Policy (which may also be known as a annual lettings plan) but does not include the policy. Please would you provide a copy of this policy and targets and a link to where it can be found the council website.
Please find information from the Housing Allocation policy you provided below:
Section 22. To achieve this and to make sure we strike the right balance of allocations
between reasonable preference groups we draw up an annual lettings
plan, known as the Target Allocation Policy, and the allocations we make
are monitored against this plan.
23. The Target Allocations Policy is monitored and reviewed regularly. If
monitoring shows that we are not achieving the allocation targets set out
in the policy, we reserve the right to implement a quota system until we
get back on track.
24. We publish the Target Allocation Plan on the council’swebsite
www.croydon.gov.uk
Thank you again for the assistance,
Yours sincerely,
R Hughes
Dear Croydon Borough Council,
I am following this up again as I believe I have not been provided with the requested information. I made further clarification as to what was being requested on the 23rd of November 2023. Please refer to this response.
I am writing to request a further review of Croydon Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Target Allocation Policy' as I don't think the correct information has been provided.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/t...
Yours faithfully,
R Hughes
Dear R Hughes,
Thank you for your email below.
I can confirm an internal review was submitted on 27/11/2023.
Your case is currently with our legal team who are dealing with the matter. Once there's an update my colleague will be in contact with you.
We apologies for our lack of communication and the time it has taken for us to provide a response.
Kind regards,
Information Management Team
Croydon Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Floor 3 Zone E, Bernard Wetherill House, Mint Walk, Croydon, CR0 1EA
Dear R Hughes,
Further to your email dated 27 November 2023, in which you requested an
Internal Review of the Council’s response to your request for information
made under the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA), I have now concluded
this review and I am able to reply as follows.
In your request for Internal Review, you asked the Council to reconsider
your request as you believed that you had not been provided with the
information requested.
In your request for information dated 11 October 2023, you requested the
following information:
“Please would you provide a copy of your most recent Target Allocation
Policy and the two previous policies. If there is a future policy that is
available please also provide that.
Please also provide a link to if this is published on the council
website.”
The Council responded to you on the 13 November 2023 and informed you that
requested information could be found in within the Housing Allocations
Scheme 2019.
In your request for an Internal Review dated, 27 November 2023, you
stated the following:
“The information doesn’t include the policy that is requested. Sections
22, 23 and 24 of the Housing Allocation Policy mentions the Target
Allocation Policy (which may also be known as a annual lettings plan) but
does not include the policy. Please would you provide a copy of this
policy and targets and a link to where it can be found the council
website.”
On receiving your request for an Internal Review, I contacted the Interim
Head of Homelessness & Allocations, who has provided additional
information in answer to the issues raised in your Internal Review.
I have been informed that the Housing Service are reviewing all of the
Housing Policies as part of the Housing Transformation projects. At the
time of writing the Housing Allocations Scheme is due to be reviewed in
early 2024.
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
Yours sincerely,
Howard Passman
020 8726 6000 ext. 27103
Resources Directorate
Legal Services Division
12th Floor
Bernard Weatherill House
8 Mint Walk
Croydon CR0 1EA
Council services, online, 24/7 www.croydon.gov.uk/myaccount.
Please use this web site address to view the council's e-mail disclaimer -
http://www.croydon.gov.uk/email-disclaimer
Thank you Howard
This has now been added to the case and closed.
Kind regards
Louise
From: Passman, Howard <[email address]>
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2024 11:32 AM
To: [FOI #1036683 email]
Cc: FOI <[Croydon Borough Council request email]>
Subject: Response - Internal Review 8434
Dear R Hughes,
Further to your email dated 27 November 2023, in which you requested an
Internal Review of the Council’s response to your request for information
made under the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA), I have now concluded
this review and I am able to reply as follows.
In your request for Internal Review, you asked the Council to reconsider
your request as you believed that you had not been provided with the
information requested.
In your request for information dated 11 October 2023, you requested the
following information:
“Please would you provide a copy of your most recent Target Allocation
Policy and the two previous policies. If there is a future policy that is
available please also provide that.
Please also provide a link to if this is published on the council
website.”
The Council responded to you on the 13 November 2023 and informed you that
requested information could be found in within the Housing Allocations
Scheme 2019.
In your request for an Internal Review dated, 27 November 2023, you
stated the following:
“The information doesn’t include the policy that is requested. Sections
22, 23 and 24 of the Housing Allocation Policy mentions the Target
Allocation Policy (which may also be known as a annual lettings plan) but
does not include the policy. Please would you provide a copy of this
policy and targets and a link to where it can be found the council
website.”
On receiving your request for an Internal Review, I contacted the Interim
Head of Homelessness & Allocations, who has provided additional
information in answer to the issues raised in your Internal Review.
I have been informed that the Housing Service are reviewing all of the
Housing Policies as part of the Housing Transformation projects. At the
time of writing the Housing Allocations Scheme is due to be reviewed in
early 2024.
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
Yours sincerely,
Howard Passman
020 8726 6000 ext. 27103
Resources Directorate
Legal Services Division
12th Floor
Bernard Weatherill House
8 Mint Walk
Croydon CR0 1EA
Council services, online, 24/7 www.croydon.gov.uk/myaccount.
Please use this web site address to view the council's e-mail disclaimer -
http://www.croydon.gov.uk/email-disclaimer
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