Tenancy deposit protection enforcement

The request was successful.

Dear Newry, Mourne and Down District Council,

I would be grateful if you could supply the following information in relation to the council’s response to complaints about failure to protect tenancy deposits for the years 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 to date.

• Number of reports council has received of deposits protected outside the statutory time-frame;
• Number of reports council has received of landlords/agents failing to serve prescribed information within statutory time-frame;
• Number of Fixed Penalty Notices served in relation to landlord/agent failure to comply with tenancy deposit requirements ;
• Number of times legal action was commenced against landlord/agent for failure to comply with tenancy deposit requirements;
• Outcomes of such legal action;
• Number of times no formal action taken in response to landlord/agent failure to comply with tenancy deposit requirement and reasons for deciding not to issue FPN or prosecute.

Can you also supply any guidance provided to assist Environmental Health staff in dealing with complaints about deposit protection from members of the public?

Yours faithfully,

E Farrell

Rooney, Ruth, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Thank you for your email dated 2 August 2019 and your request for
information therein.

 

You have requested from Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
information in relation to tenancy deposit protection enforcement.

 

I confirm your request will be processed as a request under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.  I apologise that there has been a delay in
responding to your request. I hope to update you further no later than
Thursday 19 September 2019.

 

For further information in relation to the Freedom of Information Act 2000
I would refer you to the Information Commissioner's Office website,
www.ico.org.uk

 

If you wish to discuss the above please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Ruth Rooney
Information Officer

Oifig Dhún Pádraig

Downpatrick Office

Downshire Civic Centre

Downshire Estate, Ardglass Road

Downpatrick BT30 6GQ

Council: 0300 013 2233

Planning: 0300 200 7830

Ext 2106

[1]www.newrymournedown.org

[2]www.facebook.com/nmdcouncil

[3]www.twitter.com/nmdcouncil

 

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This e-mail, its contents and any attachments are intended only for the
above named. As this e-mail 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 delivering the message to the above named,
delete or destroy the email and any attachments immediately. The contents
of this e-mail may not be disclosed to, nor used by, anyone other than the
above named. We will not accept any liability (in negligence or otherwise)
arising from any third party acting, or refraining from acting, on such
information. Opinions, conclusions and other information expressed in such
messages are not given or endorsed by the Council, unless otherwise
indicated in writing by an authorised representative independent of such
messages. Please note that we cannot guarantee that this message or any
attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted and amended. The
Council undertakes monitoring of both incoming and outgoing e-mails. You
should therefore be aware that if you send an e-mail to a person within
the Council it may be subject to any monitoring deemed necessary by the
organisation. As a public body, the Council may be required to disclose
this e-mail (or any response to it) under UK Data Protection and Freedom
of Information legislation, unless the information in it is covered by an
exemption.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.newrymournedown.org/
2. http://www.facebook.com/nmdcouncil
3. http://www.twitter.com/nmdcouncil

Dear Newry, Mourne and Down District Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council's handling of my FOI request 'Tenancy deposit protection enforcement'.

My initial request was made on 2 August. It became delayed on 3 September. On 5th September, Information Officer Ruth Rooney apologised for the initial delay and committed to providing information in response to the original request no later than Thursday 19th September. This date has now also passed with no further information from the council.

Can you please urgently provide this information?

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,

E Farrell

Rooney, Ruth, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council

Dear Sir/Madam

 

I refer to the above and write further to my email of 5 September 2019. I
apologise for the delay in responding to your request.

 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 you have requested information
from Newry, Mourne and Down District Council.  Your request has been
processed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and,
accordingly, please see the response below.

 

I would be grateful if you could supply the following information in
relation to the council’s response to complaints about failure to protect
tenancy deposits for the years 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 to date.

 

•             Number of reports council has received of deposits protected
outside the statutory time-frame; 2019/20- 1; 2018/19- 6; 2017/2018-4

•             Number of reports council has received of landlords/agents
failing to serve prescribed information within statutory time-frame;
2019/20-0; 2018/19-0; 2017/2018-0

•             Number of Fixed Penalty Notices served in relation to
landlord/agent failure to comply with tenancy deposit requirements ;
2019/20- 0; 2018/19-0; 2017/2018-0

•             Number of times legal action was commenced against
landlord/agent for failure to comply with tenancy deposit requirements;
2019/20-0; 2018/19-0; 2017/2018-0

•             Outcomes of such legal action; 2019/20 n/a; 2018/19-n/a;
2017/2018- n/a

•             Number of times no formal action taken in response to
landlord/agent failure to comply with tenancy deposit requirement and
reasons for deciding not to issue FPN or prosecute. 2019/20- 1 outside
time for action to be taken; 2018/19-5 outside time for action to be
taken, 1 complainant didn’t proceed; 2017/2018-1 outside of time, 3
complainant didn’t proceed.

 

Can you also supply any guidance provided to assist Environmental Health
staff in dealing with complaints about deposit protection from members of
the public?

The Council is continuing to process this part of your request. I hope to
update you further no later than Friday 27 September 2019.

 

If you wish to discuss the above or require clarification on any matter,
please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Ruth Rooney
Information Officer

Oifig Dhún Pádraig

Downpatrick Office

Downshire Civic Centre

Downshire Estate, Ardglass Road

Downpatrick BT30 6GQ

Council: 0300 013 2233

Planning: 0300 200 7830

Ext 2106

[1]www.newrymournedown.org

[2]www.facebook.com/nmdcouncil

[3]www.twitter.com/nmdcouncil

 

Save paper - think before you print!

 

This e-mail, its contents and any attachments are intended only for the
above named. As this e-mail 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 delivering the message to the above named,
delete or destroy the email and any attachments immediately. The contents
of this e-mail may not be disclosed to, nor used by, anyone other than the
above named. We will not accept any liability (in negligence or otherwise)
arising from any third party acting, or refraining from acting, on such
information. Opinions, conclusions and other information expressed in such
messages are not given or endorsed by the Council, unless otherwise
indicated in writing by an authorised representative independent of such
messages. Please note that we cannot guarantee that this message or any
attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted and amended. The
Council undertakes monitoring of both incoming and outgoing e-mails. You
should therefore be aware that if you send an e-mail to a person within
the Council it may be subject to any monitoring deemed necessary by the
organisation. As a public body, the Council may be required to disclose
this e-mail (or any response to it) under UK Data Protection and Freedom
of Information legislation, unless the information in it is covered by an
exemption.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.newrymournedown.org/
2. http://www.facebook.com/nmdcouncil
3. http://www.twitter.com/nmdcouncil

Rooney, Ruth, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council

1 Attachment

Dear Sir/Madam

 

I refer to the above and write further to my email of 20 September 2019.

 

You have requested the following information:

Can you also supply any guidance provided to assist Environmental Health
staff in dealing with complaints about deposit protection from members of
the public?

 

I attach a copy of the recorded information held by Newry, Mourne and Down
District Council relating to this part of your request.

 

The personal data of third party individuals who would not have a
reasonable expectation their personal data would be disclosed to the
public at large has been redacted in accordance with Section 40(2) of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.  The information is being withheld as
Council considers disclosure would breach the first data protection
principle (lawfulness, fairness and transparency).

 

I again apologise for the delay in responding to your request.

 

If you wish to discuss the above or require clarification on any matter,
please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

I trust this is of assistance.  However, should you be unhappy with our
response in this matter you may request an Internal Review of our response
by 18 November 2019. You can contact Ms Edel Cosgrove, Head of Compliance
([email address]) in that regard.

In the event you are unhappy with the outcome of any Internal Review
conducted by the Council you may apply to the Information Commissioner's
Office (ICO) for a review of our response. Please note that the ICO
generally expects Internal Reviews to be completed prior to reviewing the
decisions of public bodies.  For further information in relation to
Freedom of Information I would direct you to the website of the
Information Commissioner at: [1]www.ico.org.uk.

Kind regards

 

Ruth Rooney
Information Officer

Oifig Dhún Pádraig

Downpatrick Office

Downshire Civic Centre

Downshire Estate, Ardglass Road

Downpatrick BT30 6GQ

Council: 0300 013 2233

Planning: 0300 200 7830

Ext 2106

[2]www.newrymournedown.org

[3]www.facebook.com/nmdcouncil

[4]www.twitter.com/nmdcouncil

 

Save paper - think before you print!

 

This e-mail, its contents and any attachments are intended only for the
above named. As this e-mail 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 delivering the message to the above named,
delete or destroy the email and any attachments immediately. The contents
of this e-mail may not be disclosed to, nor used by, anyone other than the
above named. We will not accept any liability (in negligence or otherwise)
arising from any third party acting, or refraining from acting, on such
information. Opinions, conclusions and other information expressed in such
messages are not given or endorsed by the Council, unless otherwise
indicated in writing by an authorised representative independent of such
messages. Please note that we cannot guarantee that this message or any
attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted and amended. The
Council undertakes monitoring of both incoming and outgoing e-mails. You
should therefore be aware that if you send an e-mail to a person within
the Council it may be subject to any monitoring deemed necessary by the
organisation. As a public body, the Council may be required to disclose
this e-mail (or any response to it) under UK Data Protection and Freedom
of Information legislation, unless the information in it is covered by an
exemption.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
2. http://www.newrymournedown.org/
3. http://www.facebook.com/nmdcouncil
4. http://www.twitter.com/nmdcouncil

Cosgrove, Edel, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council

Dear Sir/Madam

I refer to your internal review request below.

I understand Newry, Mourne and Down District Council provided you with a response yesterday.

Once again apologies for delay.

Yours sincerely

Edel Cosgrove
Head of Compliance

Downshire Civic Centre | Downshire Estate |
Ardglass Road | Downpatrick | BT30 6GQ |
Tel: 0300 013 2233 | ext: 2101 |
[mobile number] | Planning: 0300 200 7830

www.newrymournedown.org | www.facebook.com/nmdcouncil | www.twitter.com/nmdcouncil

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