Crown Street Gorbals part 3: FOI release (reference 4866)

04 December 2020

21 December 2020

1. Did SE carry out a search on any outstanding burdens / charges / invoices associated with the site, prior to the sale?

2. Please detail the make up of the £47,000 sale price for the two development sites (Crown Street and Caledonia Road.

3. Can you please detail the total number of houses proposed on the Caledonia Road site?

4. Did SE advertise the Crown Street site? If not why not?

5. Who put the negative sales value figure on the site?

6. Did SE appoint an external independent commercial valuer to value the site?

7. Did SE refer back to the previous development discussions with Crudens?

8. Did SE prepare minutes of these meetings (with Crudens), if not why not?

9. Please confirm who within SE prepared the sale of the site details and who signed off the sale of the site.

1. Yes, external solicitors carried out a search on our behalf, and we requested any pre-registration deeds.

2. The price for the Crown Street site and Kidston Place was £47,500. The value allocated to the Crown Street site was £27,500.

3. We do not hold any information that would confirm the number of houses to be built on the Caledonia Road site. Any housing would be limited to affordable housing, under the terms of a S32 Agreement entered into by SE and North Glasgow Housing Association.

4. No, it was an off market transaction. This was a legacy asset and the proposal for affordable housing units was deemed as the most appropriate use.

5. The sales value figure for the site was determined by the Valuation Office Agency.

6. Yes the Valuation Office Agency.

7. No information held, thus section 17 of FOISA applies.

8. No information held thus section 17 of FOISA applies.

9. SE operational / legal staff prepared the sale details. The names of the staff involved is personal data and as such is withheld under section 38 (1)(b) of FOISA. A detailed description of why this exemption has been applied is provided below. The sale was signed off by Scottish Enterprise’s Chief Executive & Accountable Officer.

Section 38(1)(b) - personal information

The exemption contained in section 38(1)(b) of FOISA has been applied to some of the information you requested, and that information withheld. Section 38(1)(b) together with Article 5(1) of the GDPR creates an exemption from disclosure where the information requested constitutes the personal data of a third party and disclosure of that data would breach any of the data protection principles set out in the Data Protection Act 2018 (“DPA”). Article 5(1) states that “personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.”

As an absolute exemption, there is no need to consider the public interest in the application of this exemption. SE is satisfied that the information that has been withheld constitutes the ‘personal data’ of the individuals concerned, as defined in section 1(1) of the DPA 2018. SE has examined whether or not disclosure of the information you have requested, insofar as that is personal data, would breach the requirements of the first data protection principle.

Fairness

In assessing whether release of the information would be fair, we have had regard to the Scottish Information Commissioner’s Exemption Briefing Series on the section 38 exemption, and to guidance produced by the UK Information Commissioner, who has overall responsibility for data protection issues throughout the UK. In line with that guidance, and in coming to the decision to withhold personal data on the basis that it would be unfair to release it, we have taken into consideration:

• Any potential damage or distress which may be caused by disclosure of the information
• The seniority of the individuals’ positions
• Whether the information relates to the public or private life of the individual
• And the expectations of the data subjects with regard to the release of the information

We are of the view that release of the information would be unfair and in breach of the first data protection principle, therefore making it unlawful. Given that the disclosure would be unfair, and therefore unlawful, release would not comply with the first data protection principle, and as such it is not necessary to go on to consider any of the conditions in schedules 2 or 3 of the DPA 2018, or other aspects of lawfulness.

The information must be withheld under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA, taken together with Article 5(1) of the GDPR.