Hackney
FOI CORRESPONDENCE ON OVERAGE. EARLIEST FIRST.
22.5.16. Standard FOI request for details of "Overage" agreements in last 10 years
22.6.16. Hackney to NJH - letter being refusal on grounds of commercial sensitivity
Ian Williams
Group Director of Finance and Corporate Resources
London Borough of Hackney
4th Floor, 2 Hillman St, London E8 1FB
22 June 2016
Ref. FOI 16-0522-19668
Dear Mr Harding
Re. Freedom of Information Request
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request where you requested the following informaiton:
Please provide me with details of and the current status for all cases in the last 10 years where the Council has sold lnd to a private developer and included an Overage agreement under which the Council would share in any profit made by the developer.
The council has exempted this information under Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act.
Section 43 (2) states that;
Information is exempt if its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).
We cannot provide this information on the grounds of commercial sensitivity to those parties to whom we have disposed.
Upon review of the nature of the information requested and having consulted the organisations concerned, the council contends that Section 43 of the Act is applicable.
The council has conducted a public interest test and concluded that disclosure of these items would not serve to benefit the public as a whole.
The council has considered the arguments in favour of releasing this information such as:
· The duty to promote transparency, accountability and public participation in
local government affairs and decision-making.
· The council also recognises that disclosure of the council's selection documentation with regards to the bids submitted could enhance the quality of
decision-making processes adopted by Hackney.
The council has also considered the arguments against disclosing this information such as:
The age of the information requested.
The likelihood and severity of any harm or prejudice that disclosure could cause.
The significance or sensitivity of the information.
The information that has been requested is current and the information supplied is sensitive. Therefore, the council is of the opinion that disclosure is likely to have a detrimental impact.
In this instance, the council contends that the arguments in support of the decision to withhold this information weigh in favour of the arguments in favour of disclosure.
If you are dissatisfied with this response and wish to appeal, please write to the Information Governance Team, Appeals, 3rd Maurice Bishop House Reading Lane London E8 1 HH and your complaint will be dealt with through our Internal Review
procedure.
If you are still not satisfied following the Internal Review, you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner. He can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK95AF
Telephone: 01625545700
Yours sincerely
lan Williams
Group Director of Finance and Corporate Resources
29.6.16 NH to Hackney by letter. Appealing
Information Governance Team, Appeals
3rd Maurice Bishop House, Reading Lane
London E8 1HH
29 June 2016
Dear Sirs
Your ref. FOI16-0522-19568
I refer to the above FoI request and your refusal to provide information on overage agreements on the grounds of commercial sensitivity.
I am convinced it is in the public interest for disclosure to be made and that commercial confidentiality should not exist where public money is involved especially where land owned by the public is sold.
I have made a similar request for information to two other Inner London Boroughs and one Outer London Borough and in each case I have been provided with information, without question
Please therefore treat this letter as an appeal to be dealt with as a complaint through the Council’s Internal Review procedure.
Yours truly, Nicholas Harding
22.8.16 Hackney to NH result of appeal
Ref. FOI16-0522-19568
Mr Nicholas Harding
1 St Ann's Gardens
London
NW54ER
22 August 2016
Dear Mr Harding
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST
The Internal Review process is instigated when a requestor is not satisfied with theinformation that they have received from the Council in response to their FOIrequest.
Freedom of Information Request
You requested the following on 22nd May 2016 information:-
Please provide me with details of and the current status for all cases in the last 10
years where the Council has sold land to a private developer and included an
Overage agreement under which the Council would share in any profit made by the
developer.
The Council responded to your FOI request on 23rd June 2016, the information was identified as falling under the definition of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and responded to using Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act.
On 28th July 2016, you requested an internal review as follows:
"I am convinced it is in the public interest for disclosure to be made and that commercial confidentiality should not exist where public money is involved especially where land owned by the public is sold. I made a similar request to two other innerLondon Boroughs and one Outer London Borough and in each case I have been provided with the information without question."
Internal Review
I would confirm that having reconsidered this FOI request that we provide information detailing specific locations where overage has been agreed together with their status without disclosing any commercially sensitive information.
Please find the list as detailed below: -
Address/location Current Overage Status
1) Principal Place Not yet triggered
2) Dalston Lane Terrace Not yet triggered
3) The Viaduct 506-508 Fairchild Place Not yet triggered
4) 55 Daubeney Road Payment received
5) 76 -80 Bridport Place Not yet triggered
6) 2-12 Salcombe Road Payment received
7) 491-493 Kingsland Road Payment received
8) Frampton Park Baptist Church Payment received
9) Holly Street Payment received
10) Barkway Court Triggered but not yet paid
11 ) Woodberry Down Not yet triggered
12) Colville Phase 2 A&B Not yet triggered
13) Colville Phase 3 Not yet triggered
14) Kings Crescent Not yet triggered
15) King Edwards Road Not yet triggered
16) Haggerston West & Kingsland Not yet triggered
If you are still not satisfied following this Internal Review, you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner. He can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane
Wilmslow, Cheshire SK95AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700, www.ico.org.uk
Yours sincerely
Mr lan Williams
Group Director Finance and Corporate Resources