26.6.16. Standard FOI request for details of "Overage" agreements in last 12 years
20.7.16. Lambeth to NJH
Ref 342579. “our ref” IR163098
I can confirm that Lambeth Council holds the information you requested.
Your request for information has now been considered and unfortunately, it is not possible to meet your request. In accordance with Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.
The information is being withheld because the following exemption applies.
Section 12 (cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit)
The process of determining whether the information is held will exceed the appropriate limit as set out by the Freedom of Information Act 2000. As you may already be aware, the Council can refuse to comply with a request if the cost of compliance will exceed the appropriate limit under section 12. The limit is currently set at £450 which is the equivalent to 18 hours at £25 per hour. The appropriate limit applies to costs the council reasonable expects to incur in carrying out the following permitted activities to comply with your request:
· Determine whether the information is held
· Locating the information or documents containing the information
· Retrieving such information or documents, including reading a file for the first time
· Extracting the information from the document containing it
Your request details a large volume of information, not all of which can be extracted from our systems in a straightforward fashion.
There are records from 2004 2011 (12 years ago) to be brought up from archive containing an unknown number of disposals. We would need to apply to archives for the contracts of sale, and then each contract would then need to be read (each will be c. 30 to 40 pages in length) and the overage provisions noted. Even as a conservative estimate, this process on its own would take greater than 18 hours work.
Overages are protected by way of a restrictive covenant, so in some cases from the past, we do not know of the existence of the overage (because it was negotiated by a previous staff member and we do not hold a central record) until the Land Registry writes to us, but this ensures we capture any overage due under a further sale, as the restriction prevents onward sale.
Advice and assistance
In accordance with Section 16 (providing advice and assistance) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I can further advise in order to fall within the appropriate limit you may wish to narrow down the focus of your request. We can however supply a list of some of the major land deals undertaken since 2012 which are known to have overage provisions included. Please can you indicate by return whether you would like this information sent to you.
Further information
If you are interested in the data the council holds, we recommend you take a look at Open Lambeth, the council’s data portal. This is an important tool in pushing forward Lambeth’s Transparency Agenda, bringing together all our published datasets and other information of interest on one searchable place for anyone, anywhere to access www.lambeth.gov.uk/opendata
Right to Review
If you are dissatisfied with the way in which your Freedom of Information request has been dealt with you can request an internal review. Tell us why you are unhappy with our response within 40 working days, and it will be looked at afresh. We will aim to provide you with our review response within 20 working days. By email: [Lambeth Borough Council request email] (Please quote the reference number above) or by writing to:
Freedom of Information
Olive Morris House Brixton Hill, London SW2 1RD
If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the review you have a further right to appeal to the Information Commissioner, who regulates the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. The Commissioner can be contacted at the following address:
Information Commissioner’s Office …
21.7.16 NJH to Lambeth
Dear Lambeth Council
I refer to your FoI reply to mine concerning Overage – referenced by you IR163098.
I am surprised that your records do not readily show what contracts exist that contain an overage obligation. Other boroughs from whom I have asked for similar information (though not all) evidently do.
I would like to accept your constructive suggestion in your paragraph under “Advice and assistance”. Could you therefore supply me with a list of the major land deals since 2012 which are known to have overage provisions included.
Regards, Nicholas Harding
21.7.16 Lambeth to NJH
General enquiries form
Your Contact Lambeth Council form has been successfully sent to the relevant team.
Your reference number is: 196204
Please quote this number in any follow up correspondence. We aim to respond fully to your query within 10 working days.