FOI request (FOIR-538578412)

Temporary accommodation in caravan/camping sites

Requested Fri 11 August 2023
Responded Thu 21 September 2023

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we request the following information:

1. The number of households your local authority has placed on caravan sites and/or camping sites in the last 3 financial years for use as temporary, emergency or permanent accommodation, if any? Please provide the numbers down broken down year-by-year.

(Note: If you are unable to provide data for 2022/23, please take the previous three full financial years (that is, 2019/20 to 2021/22).)

(Note: Caravan or camping sites includes static homes.)

2. A list of the caravan and/or camping sites the local authority has placed households in with a breakdown of how many households were placed in each site in each given year.

3. The length of stay of each household at the caravan or camping site.

(Note: If you are unable to answer question 2 for any reason, please still provide an answer to Question 3 without disclosing the name of the camping/caravan site.)

4. The amount of money the local authority has paid for households to stay in caravan or camping sites in the last three full financial years. Can you please provide a breakdown of how much each caravan and/or camping site was paid?

5. Has the council fully acquired, that is, purchased a caravan or camping site, for the purpose of housing households in the past three full financial years?

Response

1. 2019-20 = 4, 2020-21 = 0, 2021-22 = 6

2. Notice of Refusal - Please see below.

3. 5 days, all customers moved to alternative temporary accommodation.

4. Information is held on credit card statements and would exceed the 18 hours to collate information, therefore is being refused under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act.

5. The council has not purchased a caravan or camping site.

NOTICE OF REFUSAL

The information in relation a list of the caravan and/or camping sites the local authority has placed households is exempt under Section 38(1)(b) of the FOIA 2000 - Health and Safety.

S38 allows public authorities to decline a request for information if it will endanger the safety of any individual. Under S38 we are not obliged to confirm or deny if we hold the information you have requested.

S38 is also subject to public interest test where public authorities have to consider if disclosing information is outweighed in cases where the health and safety of an individual or a group of individuals is put at risk.

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

a) Transparency and accountability.

We consider these factors to be generally of limited or no 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) The safety of any individual.

b) Information, which if disclosed, could predictably be used to or would otherwise harm the safety of a vulnerable individual or a group of individuals.

c) The safety of these individuals is paramount.

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.