-
-
FOI request (FOIR-605102751)
Grounds Maintenance
Requested Fri 12 April 2024
Responded Tue 23 April 20241. Contact details for the person managing the Grounds Care/Open Spaces, to include full name, job title, email address, and telephone number.
2. Does to council manage all the mowing in house or is this outsourced to a contractor? If so, please supply the name of the contractor.
3. A list of all mowing machinery owned by the council excluding any handheld machinery (such as pedestrian mowers and strimmers). Please include the make, model, and size, along with the purchase date.
Response
1. Cameron Morley, Head of Environment and Operations, email: cmorley@hastings.gov.uk, telephone: 01424 451066
2. The council manages the mowing in house.
3. Notice of Refusal
Please note that I consider the information you have requested regarding a list of mowing machinery to be exempt information under S31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act in that disclosure of that information would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.
The nature of the prejudice in this case is that the disclosure of the information in question would make the equipment more vulnerable to damage and potential theft.
The exemption afforded by S31(1)(a) 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) furtherance of understanding and participation in the public debate of issues of the day.
b) promotion of accountability and transparency by public authorities in the decision they make and the spending of public money.
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) that there is no evidence of a wider public (rather than individual) interest in disclosure.
b) that the disclosure of the information would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.
c) that the nature of such prejudice is real and substantial and that there is a real and significant risk of such prejudice.
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 .
-
-
Freedom of Information
Contact
Contact us if you have a question about democratic services.
Comments
The content on this page is the responsibility of our Democratic Services team.