Town and Country Planning Act 1990 section 215

The request was successful.

Dear Torbay Borough Council,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

Re: Town and Country Planning Act 1990 section 215

Dear Sirs

Could you please provide the following information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000:

In each of the last 5 calendar years and in the year to date
(reporting each year separately):

a) How many complaints has the Council received in respect of
properties where one potential response to the complaint would be
the issue of a section 215 notice or the issue of a warning letter
prior to the issue of a section 215 notice
b) How many warning letters were the Council minded to issue
c) How many warning letters were issued
d) How many section 215 notices has the Council issued
e) Of those section 215 notices issued, how many have been
appealed
f) What is the current status of the section 215 notices issued
(resolved/outstanding/appealed/ etc)
g) What is the Councils budget in respect of section 215 notices
for each year and what was the expenditure actually incurred for
each year
h) How many days of officer’s time has been taken up considering
and dealing with section 215 notices and consideration of matters
where a section 215 notice may be an appropriate response
i) Was the issue of section 215 notices subject to the Scheme of
Delegation for each of those years, and if so, to whom was the
power to issue section 215 notices delegated
j) Has the Council at any time in committee or sub-committee
debated or considered its policy on section 215 notices and could
you provide copies of any minutes where a section 215 notice is
mentioned

Please provide a copy of the Council’s currently agreed policy on
section 215 notices and the date and copies of the minutes of the
meeting where this policy was adopted.

Please provide a copy of the Planning Enforcement register for each
of the last five calendar years and the year to date.

Yours faithfully,

Peter C. Bell

Freedom of Information, Torbay Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Bell

 

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 17
August 2015. We are currently processing your request and will contact you
within 20 working days.

 

If you have any queries regarding your request, please do not hesitate to
contact us, quoting the reference number above in all communications.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Bee Laithwaite

Information Compliance Support

Torbay Council

Torquay Town Hall

Castle Circus

Torquay

TQ1 3DR

': 01803 207177
*: [1][email address]

[2]cid:image001.png@01CF5A20.BA7692A0

 

 

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Freedom of Information, Torbay Borough Council

Dear Mr Bell

 

Further to your request received on 17 August 2015, we have considered
your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and I can confirm
that Torbay Council has completed its search for the information that you
requested.

 

This information is as follows:

 

In each of the last 5 calendar years and in the year to date (reporting
each year separately):

a) How many complaints has the Council received in respect of properties
where one potential response to the complaint would be the issue of a
section 215 notice or the issue of a warning letter prior to the issue of
a section 215 notice

 

2010 – 41

2011 – 22

2012 – 12

2013 – 5

2014 – 3

2015 – 0
b) How many warning letters were the Council minded to issue

 

This information has not been recorded in a way that would enable us to
provide a response to your question.
c) How many warning letters were issued

 

This information has not been recorded in a way that would enable us to
provide a response to your question.

d) How many section 215 notices has the Council issued

 

Under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 Torbay Council is
not required to respond to a request where the information is already
reasonably accessible to an applicant.

 

The information you have requested is available via the online statutory
register (Planning Online) on the Torbay Council website at:
[1]www.torbay.gov.uk/planningonline. 
e) Of those section 215 notices issued, how many have been appealed

 

None
f) What is the current status of the section 215 notices issued
(resolved/outstanding/appealed/ etc)

 

2010 – two resolved; one unresolved

2011 - three resolved

2012 - three resolved; one unresolved

2013 - one resolved

2014 - none issued

2015 - none issued
g) What is the Councils budget in respect of section 215 notices for each
year and what was the expenditure actually incurred for each year

 

There is no specific budget.
h) How many days of officer’s time has been taken up considering and
dealing with section 215 notices and consideration of matters where a
section 215 notice may be an appropriate response.

 

This information is not recorded.
i) Was the issue of section 215 notices subject to the Scheme of
Delegation for each of those years, and if so, to whom was the power to
issue section 215 notices delegated

 

Executive Head and Senior Investigation Officer
j) Has the Council at any time in committee or sub-committee debated or
considered its policy on section 215 notices and could you provide copies
of any minutes where a section 215 notice is mentioned

 

Not within last five years.
Please provide a copy of the Council’s currently agreed policy on section
215 notices and the date and copies of the minutes of the meeting where
this policy was adopted.

 

Under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 Torbay Council is
not required to respond to a request where the information is already
reasonably accessible to an applicant.

 

The information you have requested is available:
[2]http://www.torbay.gov.uk/index/yourbusin...

 

Please note that the enforcement policy is not s215 specific
Please provide a copy of the Planning Enforcement register for each of the
last five calendar years and the year to date.

 

Under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 Torbay Council is
not required to respond to a request where the information is already
reasonably accessible to an applicant.

 

The information you have requested is available via the Torbay Council
website at: [3]www.torbay.gov.uk/planningonline. 

 

 

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your
own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for
the purpose of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial
publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder.

 

Torbay Council publishes Access to Information requests and responses on
its online Disclosure Log. Only requests deemed to be in the public
interest will be included and any request included within this log will be
de-personalised accordingly.

 

To view the Council’s Disclosure Log, please visit
[4]www.torbay.gov.uk/disclosurelog

 

If you have any queries about this email please do not hesitate to contact
me directly, quoting the reference number listed at the top of this email
in all communications.

 

If you are unhappy with the Council’s response to your request and wish to
make a complaint please write to Information Compliance, Town Hall, Castle
Circus, Torquay, TQ1 3DR or complete the on-line complaint form that can
be found at [5]www.torbay.gov.uk.

 

If after going through the Council’s complaints process you are still not
satisfied, you can contact the Information Commissioner direct.

 

Information Commissioner Helpline: 08456 30 60 60
01625 54 57 45
Wycliffe House  
01625 545700
Water Lane Switchboard:
01625 524510
Wilmslow Fax:
[6]www.ico.gov.uk
Cheshire    SK9 5AF Website:
[7][email address]
Email (general):

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Angela Hellier

Information Compliance Officer

Torbay Council

 

Email: [8][email address]

Phone: 01803 207413

 

Mail: Information Compliance, Torbay Council, Town Hall, Castle Circus,
Torquay TQ1 3DR

 

Find out more at: [9]www.torbay.gov.uk/accesstoinformation

 

 

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Dear Torbay Borough Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Torbay Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Town and Country Planning Act 1990 section 215'.

I requested a copy of the Enforcement Register and was directed to your website at

http://www.torbay.gov.uk/planningonline

However in order to extract information from this website I need to provide either a reference, an address or a postcode.

I note that the Council did not quote the specific exemption in the FOI upon which they were purporting to rely when refusing my request for this information. When refusing a request the ICO advise that is necessary to quote the particular exemption in the FOI and also your reasons for why you think that particular exemption applies.

The Council is required to maintain an index to the Enforcement Register - could I please ask you to supply a copy of this index which would then allow me to search the Enforcement Register using the online tool?

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,

Peter C. Bell

Freedom of Information, Torbay Borough Council

***AUTOMATED EMAIL***

 

Thank you for your email.

 

During the Christmas period, the Information Compliance Office opening
times will be as follows:

 

Thursday 24 December 2015                    OPEN (09:00 - 14:00)

Friday 25 December 2015                          CLOSED

Monday 28 December 2015                       CLOSED

Tuesday 29 December 2015                      OPEN (09:00 - 16:00)

Wednesday 30 December 2015                OPEN (09:00 - 16:00)

Thursday 31 December 2015                    OPEN (09:00 - 13:00)

Friday 1 January 2016                                CLOSED

Monday 4 January 2016                             OPEN

 

Should you have an enquiry outside of these times, please visit the
Council’s website at [1]www.torbay.gov.uk which provides a wealth of
information for our customers including an online complaint form.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.torbay.gov.uk/

Torbay Council, Torbay Borough Council

Reference: 267406
 
Dear Mr. Bell
 
Case 267406
 
Thank you for your email received on 4 January 2016.
 
As a result of your complaint we will be carrying out an internal review.

An officer, not involved in the original case, will reconsider your
request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and
notify you of their decision by 29 January 2016. If it is not possible for
us to reply by this date, we will write to you and inform you of the date
you can expect your reply and the reason for the delay.
 
Should you not hear from us when you expect, or have any queries, please
do not hesitate to contact us.
 
Yours sincerely

Bee Laithwaite
Information Compliance Support officer
Torbay Council
 
8 [email address]
(01803 207177
* Torquay Town Hall, Castle Circus, Torquay, TQ1 3DR
 
Find out more at: [1]www.torbay.gov.uk/accesstoinformation

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Torbay Council, Torbay Borough Council

Reference: 267406
 
Dear Mr. Bell
 
Case 267406
 
Further to your complaint received on 4 January 2016 I have been asked to
undertake a review of the response to your request for information under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Council applied the exemption Section 21 whereby the Council is not
required to respond to a request where the information is already
reasonably accessible to an applicant and supplied a link to the Council's
planning portal [1]www.torbay.gov.uk/planningonline.

This link takes you to a simple search tab where, as you correctly state
you are required to enter a keyword, reference number, postcode or single
line of an address. However if you click on the advanced tab and then
select enforcements you can search by numerous criteria, I provide a link
below for your convenience :

[2]http://www.torbay.gov.uk/newpublicaccess...

If you select untidy land in the 'breach type' under enforcement
details (there are three; high, low and normal) you will get a full list
of Section 215's.

Conclusion

In conclusion I cannot uphold your complaint as I find the Council has
applied the correct exemption.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your internal review, you are
entitled to refer your complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office
(ICO) for a decision.

The ICO can be contacted at: 
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF or [3]www.ico.gov.uk or [4][email address]
 
Yours sincerely

Mel Payne
Information Compliance Officer
Torbay Council
 
8 [email address]
(01803 207177 (leave message)
* Town Hall, Castle Circus, Torquay, TQ1 3DR
 
Find out more at: [5]www.torbay.gov.uk/accesstoinformation

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