/ This matter is being dealt with by:
John Tanswell
Telephone: / 01353 665555
E-mail: /
My Ref: / Empty Property FOI
Your ref
Dear Mr Tyson
RE : request for information under the FOIA
I write with reference to your email request for information dated 9th September 2013 allocated reference number FOI/EIR 13/14- 390 Daniel Tyson- Empty and Derelict Homes.
Further to your information request FOI 13/14-390 please find your question and our response below
Initial Email
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Tyson [mailto:
Sent: 09 September 2013 19:17
To: foi
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Empty and derelict homes
Dear East Cambridgeshire District Council,
Please can you provide me with the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:-
a) addresses of all " empty and derelict" properties that are within the East Cambridgeshire District Council area.
b) The names of the owners of those properties referred to in a above.
Yours faithfully,
Daniel Tyson
Response:
The Response
With regard to the request to be provided with a list of empty and derelict homes, this has been considered and it is not possible to meet your requirements in full. We do not maintain a list of derelict homes.
I attach an electronic list of empty homes of which I am able to advise you.
Please take this as notice under FOI Act that we
a)consider the redacted information as exempt from disclosure under the Act
b)claim exemption under s40 of the Act
c)state why the exemption applies:
In respect of c) above I can confirm the following:
S40 Personal Information
(1) Any information to which a request for information relates is exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject.
(2) Any information to which a request for information relates is also exempt information if—
(a) it constitutes personal data which do not fall within subsection (1), and
(b) either the first or the second condition below is satisfied.
(3) The first condition is—
(a) in a case where the information falls within any of paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of “data” in section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998, that the disclosure of the information to a member of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene—
(i) any of the data protection principles,
The Council is only able to provide you with a list of empty properties that are not owned by individuals, this is because property addresses owned by individuals constitute personal information and are therefore exempt from disclosure by section 40 of the Act. The Council has taken the Information Tribunal Decision of London Borough of Bexley Appeal No EA/2006/0060&0066 into account in reaching its decision.
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for those elements of your request.
Right to request a review: If you disagree with the decision or are otherwise unhappy with how we have dealt with your request in the first instance you may contact Freedom of Information, again to request a review of the decision. Should you remain dissatisfied with the outcome you have a right under s50 of the Freedom of Information Act to appeal against the decision by contacting the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow SK9 5AF, enquiries @ico.gsi.gov.uk.
Yours sincerely
John Tanswell
Principal Environmental Health Officer
S:FREEDOM OF INFORMATION/Response Template