Your Ref:
Our Ref: FOI/374709 /
Mr Stephen Hurrell
Email: / 7April2015
DearMr Hurrell
Freedom of Information Act Request 374709
Thank you for your recent request received7 April. Your request was actioned under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in which you requested thefollowing:
(a)addresses of current 'long term empty' (24 months prior to March 2015) commercial properties that are within Liverpool City Council area; and
(b)the names of the owners (or most recent owners) of those properties referred to in (a)
Response:
Liverpool City Council holdsinformation relevant to the terms of your request but is unable to provide it in accordance with the following:
The City Council can confirm that the information you have requested is exempt from disclosure under Section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This piece of legislation creates an exemption from the right to know if releasing the information would, or would be likely, to prejudice either the prevention or detection of crime
The City Council feels that, in this instance, the release of the location of empty properties, regardless of whether they are commercial or residential, would represent a breach of Section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
As this exemption is primarily relevant to crime we have deemed it necessary to contact Merseyside Police in order to confirm if they are of the same opinion as the City Council in terms of the disclosure of the information you have requested. As such we asked Merseyside Police if they felt the release of the address of every empty commercial property in Liverpool could potentially lead to crimes being committed against those properties. They confirmed that they felt the release of the information would potentially increase crime and listed a number of incidents would could potentially occur including vandalism, burglary and the unlawful occupation of such properties.
It is in accordance with this that the City Council feels the application of Section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is appropriate
However, as Section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is a conditional exemption the City Council is obliged to conduct a public interest test in order to ascertain if the public interest in disclosure outweighs that of release. It is in accordance with this that the following factors have been considered in relation to the release of the information you require
- The identification of empty properties could bring their non-use to light and promote their re-use
- This is also true of properties which are empty and have fallen into a state of disrepair. Their formal identification could bring such a situation to light and prompt owners to take action
We have considered the following factors in relation to the withholding of the information you require:
- The prevention of potential criminal damage which might occur if addresses of empty properties were in the public domain
- Withholding the addresses of empty properties enables individuals to better protect their properties
- The opinion of Merseyside Police citing potential crime as a result of disclosure
The City Council acknowledges factors on either side of the public interest test and can see potentially positive outcomes of the release of the information in terms of disused and derelict properties being brought back into use. However, the City Council has a duty to ensure it acts in the best interests of the property owners and we cannot be sure that crimes will not be committed as a direct result of this information being released. It is with this, and the opinion of Merseyside Police, in mind that we uphold the application of Section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and withhold the information you have requested.
Additionally, we can also confirm that the release of the names of the relevant property owners would also represent a breach of Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Any information which would identify another person is considered exempt from disclosure by virtue of Sections 40(2)(b) and 40(3)(a)(i) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as the information you have requested is considered third party information and only accessible to the data subject.
The City Council has a duty to protect any individual’s data and not disclose it to the world at large. The release of the information you have requested into the public domain would constitute an actionable breach of the Sections 40(2)(b) and 40(3)(a)(i) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and therefore has been exempted
In accordance with the application of Sections 31 and 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 we have not provided all of the information requested. As such we are required to serve you with the following section 17 notice.
TheCity Council will consider appeals, referrals or complaints in respect of your response and thesemust be submitted these in writing thin 28 days of receiving your response.
The matter will be dealt with by an officer who was not previously involved with the response and we will look to provide a response within 28 working days.
If you remain dissatisfied you may also apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision about whether the request for information has been dealt with in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
The Information Commissioner’s website is and the postal address and telephone numbers are:-
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House
Water Lane, Wilmslow
CheshireSK9 5AFFax number 01625 524 510 Telephone 01625 545745
Email – (they advise that their email is not secure)
I trust this information satisfies your enquiry
ÿYours sincerely
Mr Kevin Symm
Senior Information Officer
Information Team Municipal Buildings Dale StreetLiverpool L2 2DH
Telephone 0151 233 0418 Fax 0151 225 2392