London Borough of Southwark

The complainant has requested from the London Borough of Southwark (the Council) copies of the section 106 Heads of Terms and any viability information produced in connection with the proposals for the regeneration of the Aylesbury estate. The Council directed the complainant to where the Heads of Terms could be viewed and provided a financial viability note with some information redacted in accordance with the ‘confidentiality of commercial or industrial information’ (regulation 12(5)(e)) and ‘interests of the person who provided the information’ (regulation 12(5)(f)) exceptions to disclosure in the EIR. The complaint to the Commissioner has two parts. In part A, the Commissioner has been required to consider whether the Council was entitled to withhold this information. In part B, the Commissioner has been asked to establish whether the Council holds additional viability information that should have been identified in response to the request. The Commissioner has determined that (part A) neither regulation 12(5)(e) nor regulation 12(5)(f) of the EIR applies to the withheld information but has also decided (part B) that the Council does not hold any further information captured by the request. In light of his findings, the Commissioner requires the Council to disclose a complete version of the viability note.