Northern Lighthouse Board 84 George Street Edinburgh EH2 3DA Switchboard: 0131 473 3100 Fax: 0131 220 2093 Ref: Website: www.nlb.org.uk Email: [email protected] [Date] Martyn Mclaughlin Dear Martyn Freedom of Information Act 2000 Thank you for your request for information under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act relating to leasing of some of the NLB buildings comprising the Turnberry Lighthouse. Following an exchange of emails the wording of the request was agreed, on the 8th February 2019, as shown below Your request has been handled in accordance with your ‘right to know’ under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), which entitles you to be provided with any information ‘held’ by a public authority, unless an appropriate exemption applies. Having reviewed your request I can now advise that the required information is supplied below. Your request I am writing to request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 that the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) disclose all electronic and paper correspondence exchanged with Trump Turnberry, SLC Turnberry Limited, Golf Recreation Scotland, and the Trump Organisation relating to the lease of NLB properties associated with Turnberry lighthouse between 1 April 2014 and 1 April 2015. Our Response In order to place the communications in context it is worth noting that, for some time, prior to the negotiations with the Trump organisation, NLB had been discussing the sale of our buildings at Turnberry with the previous owners of the hotel, the accommodation building having already been sold by NLB in March 1992. However, following consultation with local users NLB made the decision to retain the light at Turnberry, all be it with a reduced light range. Maintaining a light at this location meant the tower would not be available to purchase. The purchase of the Turnberry Hotel complex by the Trump organisation was completed in April 2014. The property leased to the Trump organisation comprises the old Utility and Services building and the building formerly used to provide welfare facilities (for NLB staff whilst working on site). An electronic copy of the lease documentation is attached. The associated email contains all correspondence retained in our estates files relating to the lease of NLB properties associated with Turnberry lighthouse between 1 April 2014 and 1 April 2015. For the safety of all I hope you find the information provided useful. If however you are dissatisfied with this response, wish to request an internal review of our decision, or want to make a complaint about how your request has been handled, you should write, within 40 working days of the date of this letter, clearly marked FAO the Director of Business Services at: Northern Lighthouse Board 84 George Street Edinburgh EH2 3DA Email: [email protected] If following internal review you are still dissatisfied with the response and wish to request further review of our decision, or to make a complaint about how your request has been handled, you should write to the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF www.ico.gov.uk Yours sincerely, Trish Donaldson Compliance Officer Northern Lighthouse Board Email: [email protected] Privacy Notice NLB take seriously the protection of your privacy and confidentiality, and understand that you are entitled to know that your personal data will not be used for any purpose unintended by you. In line with our Data Retention Policy and the associated document retention schedules, the records related to this request will be retained on our live internal system for 2 years before being archived. Archived copies may be retained indefinitely in the public interest. Redacted versions of Freedom of Information requests are made available in line with NLB’s publication scheme on our website, you can read our Website Privacy Notice via the following link: https://www.nlb.org.uk/Terms/Privacy/. financial benefits of transferring maintenance costs of the operational lighthouse tower from NLB to SLC Turnberry whist maintaining all necessary access rights. In answer to your question NLB has achieved good value for money with this lease. Two otherwise redundant buildings have been rented out to the sole potential tenant along with responsibility for their maintenance. The operational lighthouse remains in NLB's control but its fabric is maintained at no cost to NLB. In summary this arrangement offers a significant saving to the ship-owners who pay Light Dues. Trish Donaldson Subject: URGENT Scotsman - Trump Turnberry - REPLY REQUIRED BY 1PM TOMORROW From: Martyn Mclaughlin [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 30 May 2019 12:43 To: Trish Donaldson <[email protected]> Subject: Re: FW: URGENT Fwd: Scotsman ‐ Trump Turnberry ‐ REPLY REQUIRED BY 1PM TOMORROW Hi Trish - that's no problem at all, thanks again. Martyn Mclaughlin On Thu, May 30, 2019 at 12:33 PM Trish Donaldson <[email protected]> wrote: Good afternoon Martyn Following our conversation I have advise Mike Bullock that you are planning to quote the last two paragraphs of his letter in your article. We both think that to use only these would miss some important factual data and would ask that you use the following as a quote instead: At the outset NLB’s intention was to set a fair and equitable agreement for the property which protected NLB’s buildings in the long term and reduced costs attributed to payers of Light Dues and when setting the rent took into account all factors not least the burden taken on by the Resort for the care and maintenance of the lighthouse tower and buildings. A lighthouse of this type is repainted at an interval of 8 to 10 years and on each occasion costs around £120,000. This saving has already been realised once as programmed painting was undertaken by the Resort as part of the work to create the half‐way house. In addition, responsibility for routine general maintenance of the tower, buildings and the care of the dome access system lies with the Resort. When determining the rent NLB requested a report and a rental valuation from the UK Government Valuation Office Agency, this provided a ball park rental range of £600 to £1500. The figure was discussed both within NLB and with our solicitors and £1200 was determined to be a reasonable return given the significant additional financial benefits of transferring maintenance costs of the operational lighthouse tower to SLC Turnberry whist maintaining all necessary access rights. In answer to your question NLB has achieved good value for money with this lease. Two otherwise redundant buildings have been rented out to the sole potential tenant along with responsibility for their maintenance. The operational lighthouse remains in NLB’s control but its fabric is maintained at 1 no cost to NLB. In summary this arrangement offers a significant saving to the ship‐owners who pay Light Dues. Kind regards T From: Trish Donaldson Sent: 30 May 2019 12:03 To: '[email protected]' <[email protected]> Subject: RE: URGENT Fwd: Scotsman ‐ Trump Turnberry ‐ REPLY REQUIRED BY 1PM TOMORROW Good morning Martyn Your email below has been forwarded to me as a follow on to your earlier Freedom of Information Request. Please find attached our response. Kind regards Trish _________________________________________________________________________________ From: Martyn Mclaughlin Sent: 29 May 2019 11:20 To: > Subject: Scotsman ‐ Trump Turnberry Hi Karen Martyn from The Scotsman here, thanks for chatting a moment ago. As mentioned on the phone, I’m working on a story concerning the NLB and I’d be grateful for a response to it. The story’s predominantly based on disclosures under the Freedom of Information act sent to me by your colleague, Trish Donaldson, who was a great help. It’s about the lease arrangements between the NLB and SLC Turnberry Litd, the parent company at Donald Trump’s Turnberry hotel and golf resort in South Ayrshire. Trish was very helpful in breaking down the ownership issues surrounding famous Turnberry lighthouse, pointing out that while SLC Turnberry owns the accommodation block, the remainder belongs to the NLB, and that the lease applies to the utility and services building, and the former welfare building, on the site. My story is focusing on how Mr Trump’s company is paying just £100 a month to rent the buildings at the lighthouse complex, while charging guests £1,400 a night to stay at a luxury suite there. I understand one of the NLB buildings has been converted into a ‘halfway house’ where golfers and guests can purchase food and drink. Given NLB is a public body, and the buildings leased to SLC Turnberry form part of the Turnberry resort,I’m keen to ask whether the arrangement is value for money, I’d be grateful if the NLB could tell me: 2 Does it believe the amount it is charging SLC Turnberry represents value for money? How did the NLB settle upon the £1,200 annual lease charge sum? My deadline is 1pm tomorrow (Thursday 30 May). I hope the above is clear, but if you need to chat through anything, you can reach me on 0141 236 6440. Many thanks Martyn Martyn Mclaughlin JPIMedia Limited Registered in England and Wales no. 11573611 Registered Office: Third Floor, 1 King William Street, London EC4N 7AF Opinions expressed in this email are those of the writer and not the company. E-mail traffic is monitored within JPIMedia Limited and messages may be viewed. This e-mail and any files with it are solely for the use of the addressee(s).If you are not the intended recipient, you have received this e-mail in error.