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Review Outcome the Modified Response

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Review Outcome the Modified Response FOI-19-1405 - Property, Invoices and Budget Review outcome The Review Panel resolved to :- I. In respect of Question 2 – Modify the Council’s application of Section 17 – Information not held – to application of both Section 33(1)(b) of FOISA – The modified response in respect of Question 2 is as follows. Thank you for your information request of 18 October 2019 and please accept our apologies for delay in providing the response to you. Aberdeen City Council (ACC) has completed the necessary search for the information requested. Our response is now detailed below. Q2 - Please supply a spreadsheet, accounts or other data held by ACC showing what rent ACC has collected from occupants, renters of Marischal Square, to include Aberdeen Journals Ltd, Aberdeen Press & Journal, Aberdeen Evening Express. I believe the Finance Department of ACC holds this information electronically. The period is from when Marischal Square was first occupied through September 2019. This should reflect rent charged per square metre per month, amount billed to occupants/ renters, and whether or not the sum invoiced for has been paid in full. I am confident this material can be obtained swiftly and inexpensively using electronic search methods and ACC's existing accounting systems and spreadsheets ACC holds. Marischal Square is managed by CBRE on behalf of ACC. This means that all invoices for rent are raised by CBRE and are payable to CBRE who then pay over rental income to ACC as it is received. ACC do receive regular updates on sums outstanding and not on specific amounts billed. This information is commercially sensitive, therefore, ACC is unable to provide you the required details as it is exempt from disclosure. In order to comply with its obligations under the terms of Section 16 of the FOISA, ACC hereby give notice that we are refusing your request under the terms of Section 33(1)(b) – Commercial Interests - of the FOISA. We are unable to provide you with information on whether or not the sum invoiced for has been paid in full as it is not held by ACC. In order to comply with our obligations under the terms of Section 17 of the FOISA, we hereby gives notice that this information is not held by us. The total rental income received via CBRE for Marischal Square to 30 September 2019 is £849,936.61. No breakdown has been provided per tenant or per metre square as this is commercially sensitive. However it should be noted that the Headline rent for Marischal Square is £30 per square foot. The rent charged per square metre per month of Marischal Square is part of the negotiations regarding the commercial deals for letting space at Marischal Square between the Council, Muse and the occupiers, which are commercially sensitive, therefore, ACC is unable to provide you the required details as it is exempt from disclosure. In order to comply with its obligations under the terms of Section 16 of the FOISA, ACC hereby give notice that we are refusing your request under the terms of Section 33(1)(b) – Commercial Interests - of the FOISA. Do commercial interests exist in relation to the information? ACC considers that commercial interests exist because it comprises information in regards to a third party commercial deals. This information is not publicly available as it is information which would normally only be known by the contracting parties and their advisors. Please describe how disclosure of the requested information would cause the level of harm required for this exemption? The release of this information could have a significant detrimental effect on the Council’s negotiating position for future transactions as Marischal Square. The details could be used by the applicant to have an unfair competitive advantage over other parties looking to let space in Marischal Square. ACC considers that, were we to release this information, we would prejudice our commercial relationship with them who did not agree for their information to be made public. What are the public interest arguments? The public must be reassured that public bodies are spending taxpayers’ money wisely. In particular, the public has the right to know how much money is being contributed, and the nature of the additional services. However, ACC is of the view that in this case, the public interest lies in withholding the information as disclosure would prejudice ACC’s commercial relationships and future contractual negotiations with Marischal Square occupiers and after considering all the circumstances of the case, the public interest is best met by applying Section 33(1)(b). INFORMATION ABOUT THE HANDLING OF YOUR REQUEST We handled your request for information in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Please refer to the attached PDF for more information about your rights under FOISA. We hope this helps with your request. Original Response From: Foi Enquiries Sent: 22 November 2019 16:08 Subject: FOI-19-1405 - Property, Invoices and Budget Q1 - What is the current City's property portfolio (note - I was sent an excel workbook of this data approximately 9 year ago, which was about 10 pages long - I am looking for the same report which you then called Property Portfolio' and 'Non Housing' report). The Current Assets list is found on the Council’s website at this link: https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/business-and-licensing/property-services/property- asset-management As the current City's property portfolio is otherwise accessible at the Aberdeen City Council’s website it is exempt from disclosure. In order to comply with our obligations under the terms of Section 16 of the FOISA, we hereby give notice that we are refusing your request under the terms of Section 25(1) - Information Otherwise Accessible - of the FOISA. However, please find attached the most recent excel version ref: FOI-19-1405 Asset List. A COPY OF THIS SPREADSHEET IS AVAILABLE FROM [email protected] Q2 - Please supply a spreadsheet, accounts or other data held by ACC showing what rent ACC has collected from occupants, renters of Marischal Square, to include Aberdeen Journals Ltd, Aberdeen Press & Journal, Aberdeen Evening Express. I believe the Finance Department of ACC holds this information electronically. The period is from when Marischal Square was first occupied through September 2019. This should reflect rent charged per square metre per month, amount billed to occupants/ renters, and whether or not the sum invoiced for has been paid in full. I am confident this material can be obtained swiftly and inexpensively using electronic search methods and ACC's existing accounting systems and spreadsheets ACC holds. Marischal Square is managed by CBRE on behalf of ACC. This means that all invoices for rent are raised by CBRE and are payable to CBRE who then pay over rental income to ACC as it is received. We are therefore unable to provide any information on amounts billed and whether or not these have been paid in full. The total rental income received via CBRE for Marischal Square to 30 September 2019 is £849,936.61. We are unable to provide you with information on rent ACC has collected from occupants, renters of Marischal Square including amount billed to occupants/ renters, and whether or not the sum invoiced for has been paid in full as it is not held by ACC. In order to comply with our obligations under the terms of Section 17 of the FOISA, we hereby gives notice that this information is not held by us. No breakdown has been provided per tenant or per metre square as this is commercially sensitive. However it should be noted that the Headline rent for Marischal Square is £30 per square foot. The rent charged per square metre per month of Marischal Square is part of the negotiations regarding the commercial deals for letting space at Marischal Square between the Council, Muse and the occupiers, which are commercially sensitive, therefore, ACC is unable to provide you the required details as it is exempt from disclosure. In order to comply with its obligations under the terms of Section 16 of the FOISA, ACC hereby give notice that we are refusing your request under the terms of Section 33(1)(b) – Commercial Interests - of the FOISA. Do commercial interests exist in relation to the information? ACC considers that commercial interests exist because it comprises information in regards to a third party commercial deals. This information is not publicly available as it is information which would normally only be known by the contracting parties and their advisors. Please describe how disclosure of the requested information would cause the level of harm required for this exemption? The release of this information could have a significant detrimental effect on the Council’s negotiating position for future transactions as Marischal Square. The details could be used by the applicant to have an unfair competitive advantage over other parties looking to let space in Marischal Square. ACC considers that, were we to release this information, we would prejudice our commercial relationship with them who did not agree for their information to be made public. What are the public interest arguments? The public must be reassured that public bodies are spending taxpayers’ money wisely. In particular, the public has the right to know how much money is being contributed, and the nature of the additional services. However, ACC is of the view that in this case, the public interest lies in withholding the information as disclosure would prejudice ACC’s commercial relationships and future contractual negotiations with Marischal Square occupiers and after considering all the circumstances of the case, the public interest is best met by applying Section 33(1)(b).
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