LOBO loans

The request was partially successful.

Dear North East Lincolnshire Council,

1. How many Lender Option Borrower Option (LOBOs) contracts do you have on your books?

2. When were they signed and by whom?

3. With which financial institutions were they taken out?

4. Who advised the council to enter the LOBO(s)?

5. Since each Contract has been signed, has the lender exercised their option and changed the interest rate?

6. If so, please specify the dates of the interest rate changes and the revised interest rates.

7. Please provide a copy of the original, signed LOBO agreements.

Yours faithfully,

Jamie Griffiths

PPD - FOI, North East Lincolnshire Council

Dear Sir/Madame

 

I am pleased to acknowledge your request for information, which has been
allocated the reference number 9567_1415

Your request has been passed to the relevant department for processing and
you can expect your response within the 20 working day limit. If it will
take us longer than 20 working days to respond to you, we will inform you
of this and provide you with the expected date for receiving a response.

Further information about how we will deal with your Freedom of
Information requests is available on our website at:
[1]http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/council/the-co....

Please feel free to contact me if you require any further information or
assistance quoting the reference number above.

 

Yours sincerely on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council

 

Feedback Officer

Resources Directorate

 

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PPD - FOI, North East Lincolnshire Council

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Griffiths 

 

Thank you for your information request, reference number 9567_1415.  I
wish to confirm that North East Lincolnshire Council holds the following
information.

 

1. How many Lender Option Borrower Option (LOBOs) contracts do you have on
your books?

 

8

 

2. When were they signed and by whom?

 

See attachment

 

3. With which financial institutions were they taken out?

 

See above

 

4. Who advised the council to enter the LOBO(s)?

 

See above

 

5. Since each Contract has been signed, has the lender exercised their
option and changed the interest rate?

 

No

 

6. If so, please specify the dates of the interest rate changes and the
revised interest rates.

 

Not applicable

 

7. Please provide a copy of the original, signed LOBO agreements.

           

We determine following consultation with the lenders, that disclosure
would or would be likely to prejudice their commercial interests. Section
43 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act states that information is exempt
information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to,
prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public
authority holding it). This is on the basis that each lender will have
procured their own legal clausing and applied it to their agreement, with
the intention of obtaining a commercial advantage over the competition in
terms of the perceived protection offered.

 

Notwithstanding the above, Barclays Bank PLC have advised that they are
happy for us to provide copies of their agreements and, as we have not
received a response from the holders of the Axa loans we have also
provided copies of their Bonds.

 

Section 43 is a qualified exemption, and requires North East Lincolnshire
Council to consider the balance of public interest for the disclosure or
withholding of the requested information, before applying the exemption.
In assessing the public interest the following factors, were considered:

 

·         The public interest in ensuring North East Lincolnshire Council
can be held accountable for its decisions;

·         The public interest in ensuring North East Lincolnshire Council
are able to effectively provide services and deliver outcomes for the
community;

·         The affect disclosure would have on the commercial interest of
the third parties in a competitive environment.

·         The public interest in ensuring North East Lincolnshire Council
are providing value for money services.

 

We determine that the public interest in ensuring North East Lincolnshire
Council is held accountable for its decisions and provides value for money
services, is met through the publication the interest rates paid and the
lenders we deal with. The public interest is therefore in favour of
ensuring a competitive environment, and the signed agreements are
therefore exempt from disclosure by virtue of section 43 (2) of the
Freedom of Information Act.

 

If you believe that your request for information has not been handled in
accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, you have the right to
request an internal review by the Council. Please be clear about which
elements of the Council’s response or handling of the request you are
unhappy with, and would like the Council to address during the internal
review process.  If following this you are still dissatisfied you may
contact the Office of the Information Commissioner. If you wish to request
an internal review, please contact me and I will make the necessary
arrangements.

 

Yours sincerely on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council

 

Feedback Officer

Resources Directorate

 

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Jamie Griffiths left an annotation ()

Contracts provided for 6 LOBO loans, withheld for 2 ("commercial sensitivity"). Barclays gave consent.