FOI request (FOI-68941879)

My aim is to establish the need and cost of “Temporary accommodation” within the borough but I am aware that the definition of temporary accommodation varies between each borough. Please treat temporary as nightly housing that the councils provides via its own housing stock or from the private sector, examples of this would be hotels, hostels, Bed & Breakfast’s or rental of a self-contained unit for the purpose of nightly accommodation.

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide me with details and copies of the following:

• The date range is from 1^st January 2017 to the 31^st December 2017 for all the enquiries below
• As of 31^st December 2017 how many people/families did the Council have waiting for permanent accommodation
• How many people were housed in hotels, hostels and Bed & Breakfast (B&B) – please breakdown into rooms and number of nights
• How many people were housed in Temporary Accommodation (TA) – by this I mean have the council rented self-contained units from the private sector and if so please breakdown into number of properties and number of nights
• How long they stayed in each of the categorises above.
• The cost of providing each form of accommodation so they are broken down so I can see the cost of hotels, hostels, Bed & Breakfast’s or rental of a self-contained unit for the purpose of nightly accommodation
• A list of the top 25 private landlords or private businesses this money was paid to
• The area/postcode that they were housed

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide me with details and copies of the following:

The date range is from 1^st January 2017 to the 31^st December 2017 for all the enquiries below

As of 31^st December 2017 how many people/families did the Council have waiting for permanent accommodation

Answer:

Housing Register: 1553

Supported accommodation: 41

TA: 72

How many people were housed in hotels, hostels and Bed & Breakfast (B&B) – please breakdown into rooms and number of nights

Answer:

Non Annexe B&B

From Jan 17 – Dec 17 the total of people that we placed in B&B was: 20 households

From Jan 17 – Dec 17 the number of nights was 2616

Rooms: Information not held.

How many people were housed in Temporary Accommodation (TA) – by this I mean have the council rented self-contained units from the private sector and if so please breakdown into number of properties and number of nights

Answer:

Annexe/TA

From Jan 17 – Dec 17 the total of people that was placed in Annexe was: 128 households

From Jan 17 – Dec 17 Number of properties: 10

From Jan 17 – Dec 17 Number of nights: 21,825

How long they stayed in each of the categorises above.

Answer:

From Jan 17 – Dec 17 in B&B and Annexe accommodation the total number of nights is: 24,441

The cost of providing each form of accommodation so they are broken down so I can see the cost of hotels, hostels, Bed & Breakfast’s or rental of a self-contained unit for the purpose of nightly accommodation

Answer:

Provider 1

Single - £29.85, Double - £37.85, Family of 4 - £49.85, Family of 6 - £60.85, all costs excluding VAT

Provider 2

Single - £24.00, Double - £42.50, Family of 4 - £57.00, Family of 6 - £62.00, all costs excluding VAT

Provider 3

Single - £28, Double - £40.00, Family of 4 - £50.00, Family of 6 - £70.00, all costs excluding VAT

Provider 4

Single - £24.00, Double - £45.00, Family of 4 - £60.00, Family of 6 - £70.00, all costs excluding VAT

Provider 5

Single - £27.00, Double - £35.00, Family of 4 - £48.00, Family of 6 - £75.00, all costs excluding VAT

Provider 6

Single - £20.00, Double - £33.00, Family of 4 - £38.00, all costs excluding VAT

Provider 7

Single - £35.00, Family of 4 - £45.00, all costs excluding VAT

Provider 8

Family of 4 - £35.00, all costs excluding VAT

Provider 9

Single - £45.00, all costs excluding VAT

Provider 10

Single - £30.00, Family of 4 - £57.00, all costs excluding VAT

A list of the top 25 private landlords or private businesses this money was paid to

Answer:

NOTICE OF REFUSAL

The information requested in relation to the top 25 private landlords is commercially sensitive and fall under Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act – Commercially Sensitive Information

Information prejudicing commercial interests – commercial interest relating to an organisations commercial activity and may include trading activity procurement and relationships with third parties.

The exemption afforded by Section 43 is subject to what is known as the ‘public interest test’. When applying the test in a particular case a public authority is deciding whether the public interest is better served by non-disclosure than by disclosure.

Although the Freedom of Information Act does not define ‘in the public interest’, there is a presumption under Freedom of Information that openness is in the public interest. In applying the public interest test a public authority will take into account the distinction that has been often made by courts between things that are in the public interest, and things that merely interest the public. Where applicants have not identified public interest considerations succinctly or accurately, the public authority has a responsibility under the Act to make their own assessment of the public interest considerations in the particular case.

We have identified the following public interest factors that may be seen as encouraging the disclosure of information:

a) accountability of public spending

We consider these factors to be of limited relevance in relation to the information in question.

Public interest factors seen as encouraging non-disclosure are, generally, the exemptions themselves. In consideration of this matter we came to the following conclusions:

a) ensuring that companies are able to compete for business fairly

b) damage to reputation and/or financial interests

In weighing the factors for and against disclosure we have concluded that the likely benefit to the applicant and the wider public of disclosure is outweighed by the likely prejudice caused by such disclosure and that therefore the public interest is better served by non-disclosure.

For the reasons given above we will not be communicating to you the information you have requested.

 The area/postcode that they were housed

Answer:

TN34, TN37, TN38, BN21, BN25, BN9, ME1