North Devon District Council's efforts to reduce homelessness and rough sleeping in this Local Authority 

1. In the Prime Minister's pledge to eradicate homelessness by 2030, the government website states that £260m was committed to Local Authorities to support people who are homeless/sleeping rough. Please could I receive a CSV file containing how much the Council received of this funding, how much has been spent and what it has currently been spent on. Please provide as much detail in what funds were spent on as possible. Where reasons encompass many different actions, please can this be explained within a notes tab 

2. A CSV file containing the number of Local Authority residents on the waiting list for temporary accommodation from January 2012 - March 2022. This can be the last day of each month, or the month this data is gathered. Could this also include the number of resident approached for temporary accommodation and how many people received that accommodation each month 

3. For gathering data into rough sleeping, Local Authorities are required to gather data on one day each Autumn. Please could I have a CSV file for when data was taken each year, as well as the data gather since 2012

1. Applicant advised that Housing confirms that this information is already published via https://www.gov.uk/as to how the funding was split between each Local Authority

2. Housing advise that they are unable to provide this data from 2012 due to a change in system used

They do not have a waiting list for Temporary accommodation as they place clients into units once they no longer have accommodation they no longer have a legal right to occupy

3. Data on Rough Sleeper households is contained within the linked data set on the Council’s website

In accordance with Section 21(1) of the Act, the Council is not obliged to provide information that is already in the public domain. However, it does have a duty under Section 16(1) to provide all applicants advice and assistance in order to assist with locating the information, which the Council has done so in providing you with the link above.  This data is published annually and was last uploaded to the council’s website on 7 January 2022

Bus Shelter, Street Furniture and Free Standing 6 sheet Unit Outdoor Advertising Contracts

1) Expiry date of any existing/current bus shelter advertising contracts

2) Expiry date of any existing/current free standing 6 sheet display advertising contracts

3) Details of the incumbent advertising company/contractor for the above contracts

4) Details of the type and size (type and number of advertising assets)and value of the bus shelter and free standing 6 sheet outdoor advertising display contracts

5) Details of the services, products and financial revenue payments made to the authority/city for these services

The Council does not hold any applicable contracts as set out in the request

1. What area/towns and villages does North Devon Council cover for its social housing provision? 

2. How many people do you have on your council housing waiting lists in North Devon for the following years: 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 (up to April 2022 if possible) 

3. How many unoccupied/empty council properties does North Devon currently have as of date 29/4/2022 

4. Total number of North Devon council houses as of date 29/4/2022 

5. What is the reason for the unoccupied/empty properties - maintenance/unfit for use/cleaning/other - please specify 

6. Please can we have a breakdown of unoccupied/empty North Devon council houses properties during years 

2021-2022 (up to April 2022 if possible 

7. Please specify length of time properties were vacant for each year group above (less than 1 month, less than 6 months, up to one year, up to two years, up to three years etc) 

8. Please specify whether any of the North Devon homes that won't be re-let for social housing have been converted to private lets, or on to the open market for dates 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022 (April) 

1. North Devon Council does not hold social housing stock. This was transferred under Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) to North Devon Homes Ltd, 21 February 2000 

North Devon Homes Ltd secures affordable housing via the planning process and funding work with partners, such as Homes England, Registered Providers and Community Land Trusts 

3. North Devon Council does not hold social housing stock and as such it does not record this information 

Applicant provided with a link to a list of Registered Providers within North Devon that they may wish to direct their request to for a response to the parts the Council does not hold the information for

1. What is the size of your fleet? 

2. Does your authority operate a fleet management software product? If so, which provider? 

3. What is the annual spend for this contract? 

4. When does the contract expire? 

5. If you go through the tender process, which framework or

6. Is your fleet maintenance conducted in house? Externally outsourced? Or both? 

1. Is your authority planning on moving towards an alternative fuel fleet? Or have you already implemented an alternative fuel fleet and charging provider? 

2. If you already have charging ports installed for fleet vehicles, how many are installed and what charging network (i e, PodPoint, Engie) do you use? 

1. Who is your current telematics supplier? 

2. What is the annual spend for this contract? 

3. When does the contract expire?

Three (Environmental Health and Housing)

6. External maintenance (Waste and Recycling and Environmental Health and Housing), Repairs carried out as per lease agreement (Parking)

Telematics (Waste and Recycling only)

1. Does the local authority employ a dog warden or outsource the role? If the role is outsourced, who is responsible?

2. What has been the local authority’s annual spend on the dog warden service for the last three years? either for in-house or outsourcing the role?

1. Please provide details of the number of premises licensed under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 / The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Wales) Regulations 2021 / The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021:

a) Number of premises licensed to breed dog

b) Number of dogs each premises is licensed to have on site

c) The breeds of dogs listed on the licence

2. For any premises licensed to house 10 or more breeding bitches, please provide copies of the most recent inspection report(s). If no written reports are available, please indicate the date on which the most recent report was conducted, and by whom (job title not personal details)

3. How many investigations have been made into premises suspected of needing a breeding licence between January 2019 and December 2021?

4. How many additional conditions have been attached to a licence between January 2019 and December 2021?

1. The Council employs three Neighbourhood Officers who undertake dog warden duties (Stray and Lost dogs, dog fouling offences, dog owner control offences, etc), along with many other duties as well (abandoned vehicles, fly tipping, littering, etc)

2. This information is not recorded. The Council is unable provide specific figures of spend for just the dog warden service for the requested years as the officers also deal with other environmental duties

    b) Six bitches, One stud dog

        Seven bitches, Four stud dogs

        Five bitches, One stud dog

c)    We do not list the breeds of dogs on the licence

2. Copies of reports provided to applicant with all personal data redacted in accordance with Section 40 of Act which are available on request

Note – The general conditions and specific conditions for dog breeding are attached to the licence

a) How many households in your area are eligible for the £150 Council Tax Rebate

b) How many £150 Council Tax Rebates have you distributed in your area

c) How many eligible households have received the £150 Council Tax Rebate

1. A bullet point list of all the measures the council has taken in preparation for the introduction of the ‘Protect Duty’ which is expected to come into effect in 2022 

2. The full amount (in £) the council has spent to date implementing the aforementioned measures as well as the amount of money (in £) assigned to make the above changes ahead of the introduction of ‘Protect Duty’ 

3. If you have not yet assigned a budget or implemented measures ahead of ‘Protect Duty’ coming into effect, do you expect to do so in the next 6 months? (please answer either Yes, No or N/A)

1. North Devon Council has not implemented any measures directly relating to protect as of today’s date, Friday 10 June 2022

2.No additional costs have been incurred specific to protect duty

1. Total Number of vehicles within the council fleet, split into category and department (i e refuse vehicles, community buses etc)

2. Total number of vehicles with CCTV camera systems installed

2. a) Current supplier of CCTV camera system

3. Total Number of vehicles with vehicle tracking / telematics installed

3. a) Name of current tracking / telematics provider (if any)

4. Name of Fleet Manager, or person responsible for managing the fleet

1.    Five vans, four for parking, one for Estates

3.    Nil a) N/A b) Not aware, done through procurement

1.    One Minibus, 69 refuse vehicles, four sweepers

3.    67 a) Teletrac Nav Man Bartec b) N/A

4.    Steven Howlett, Waste and Recycling 

1.    Two vans, one car used by Neighbourhood Officers

4.    Andy Cole, Service Lead, Environmental Protection, Environmental Health

1. Does your local authority have responsibility for civil enforcement and car parking services? 

2. If so, is that service delivered in-house by the council or outsourced to a contractor/contractors? 

3. If outsourced, please provide the name of the contractor or contractors delivering the service 

4. When the procurement contract for this service is set to expire or be renewed and whether there are any break clauses or dates within the contract 

1. Please provide a list of job roles in the following services with the pay point they sit on within the NJC pay spine (if applicable) 

a)    Civil enforcement/traffic wardens

b)    Waste and refuse workers including HGV drivers

c)    Caretakers, gardeners and parks 

1. Are there any employees who receive premium rates of pay for working patterns above those set out within the NJC agreement?   

2. If so, please provide the job descriptions and services they provide and details of the premium rates of pay         

3. Does your council apply any recruitment and retention premia to help recruit staff into hard to fill roles? If so please provide the job descriptions and services they provide and details of the premium rates of pay

1. Yes, enforcement of Off-Street parking (car parks under the Council’s remit within North Devon)

    b) Depot Operative SCP 5-11

        LGV Driver/Loader/Sweeper SCP 12-17

        Loader/Sweeper/Recycler SCP 4-6

        Non LGV Driver/Loader/Sweeper SCP 7-11

     c) Grounds Maintenance Operative SCP 5-11

3. The Council has just published its first recruitment using incentives, Service Manager (Development Management) – market addition welcome payment of 10% in the first year plus a relocation package of up to £8,000. Job description provided to applicant, which is available on request

CON29 information relating to a property at EX33 1NH

Applicant advised that no information held

The number of enforcement actions you have served over shipping containers not having proper planning permission. I would like this information broken down for the years (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022), the outcome of enforcement action and where the container was located (for example on green belt land, in a back garden of a dwelling, on a brownfield site)

Can the Council tell me whose decision it was to redact information concerning Cllrs from Planning Applications thus allowing such applications to be delegated rather than suffer the scrutiny of Committee and ensure some form of transparency

The decision to redact information provided in the section Authority Employee / Member on the application form was not taken by North Devon Council, this was an update provided by the Planning Portal and does not appear to have been communicated to us 

The Planning Portal supplies us with two copies of an application form; one is a full and unredacted version and the other has personal data removed; it is the opinion of the Planning Portal that the section revealing a relationship with an Authority Employee or Member falls into this category. It has been our practice to publish the copy containing no personal data on the North Devon Council Planning Tracker and I can only apologise that we had not picked up on the change in process by the Planning Portal. I can advise however, that now we are aware of it, where this section is completed we will ensure that this version of the form is not the copy that is published going forward 

Although the version of the form published on the Planning Tracker had information removed, the copy that the case officer will have viewed and had access to, is the full unredacted form. As a double check our Planning software also contains a field that flags a relationship with a Councillor or Staff Member. Therefore the assumption that these applications will have avoided the scrutiny of being determined by Planning Committee because this information had been redacted from the published application form is incorrect

CON29 information relating to a property at EX31 4ED

Applicant provided with the information, where held and also directed to the Council’s website for some of the information

CON29 information relating to a property at EX34 9QT

Applicant provided with the information, where held and also directed to the Council’s website for some of the information

Environmental Search request - Gratton Way, Roundswell Business Park, Barnstaple, EX31 3NH: 

1. Has the site been identified for inspection or further review under the Council's Contaminated Land Strategy (or other Part IIA undertaking)? If so, please describe the priority status/risk ranking of the site and the likely timescale for any further scrutiny of the site 

2. Are there any known contamination issues associated with the site or in the near vicinity e g in terms of former or current contaminative site uses, leaks or spills of any oil/chemical substances etc.? If there have been any intrusive investigations at the site or near vicinity, please provide dates and titles of any reports and confirm whether the reports are publicly available 

3. Please provide the following details of any current or former landfills located within a 250m radius of the site: 

a) The location of all landfills, both closed and operational (i e National Grid Reference and location plan if available)

b) Dates when the landfill was operational

c) Types of waste deposited

d) Any information on volume of waste deposited, depth of infilling and landfill structure

e) Details of any landfill gas monitoring, site investigation or gas spiking undertaken at the landfill or in the immediate vicinity of the site 

4. Have elevated indoor radon gas concentrations been identified within buildings on or within 100m of the site? Have radon protection measures been required in buildings on site or within 100m? If so, please provide details 

5. Are there any known current or former nuisance issues, prosecutions or enforcements associated with the site or adjoining properties, e g noise, odour or dust issues/complaints?  If yes, what was the nature of the issue and what was the outcome?       

6. Are there any known private water supplies recorded on your Local Authority Private Water Supply Register, within 2km radius of the site? If yes what is the location (ie. NGR), the source of abstraction and its purpose? 

7. Please provide details of any Part A(2) or Part B Environmental Permits (formerly LAAPC/LAPPC authorisations) licensed to the site or to adjoining properties

Applicant provided with map and spreadsheet (QGIS contaminated land report) which are available upon request

The Council’s Environmental Protection team does not hold any other records regarding potentially contaminated land in this area. It recommends that the applicant also contact the Environment Agency and Devon County Council regarding any information they may hold in relation to the site or the land in the vicinity

North Devon Council has not yet fully inspected its area to identify sites of contaminated land as required by Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. As such, it is not possible to say whether or not this site will be classified under this legislation. At this time, it is considered unlikely that this site would be the subject of inspection under this legislation to the future

4. No records of Radon complaints regarding this location are held

7. Sainsbury Supermarkets Ltd, Gratton Way, Roundswell EX31 3NH hold a Part b PVR II Permit with North Devon Council

CON29 information relating to a property at EX39 4LG

Applicant advised that no information held

1. How many households in the council area fall into each of the following council tax bands: A, B, C and D

2. A count by council tax band of A, B, C and D how many of them have been repaid the council tax rebate which has been confirmed by the chancellor

3. A count of how many households in the council area fall into each of the following council tax bands: A, B, C and D and pay their tax via direct debit

4. A count by council tax band of A, B, C and D how many of them have which pay by direct debit have been repaid the council tax rebate which has been confirmed by the chancellor

5. What is the deadline date for those houses in band A, B, C and D to have their council tax rebate returned by?

1. The total area of publicly accessible green space currently owned by the council. By green space, I mean areas which are primarily covered in grass, meadow, woodland, marshland, beach land etc, including parks. It would not include areas which are primarily covered in tarmac or concrete even if they have incidental planting of trees or other greenery

2. The same figure as it was on 1 January 2012

3. The same figure as it was on 1 January 2002

1. Approximately 161 hectares of open space and woodland

2. Approximately 147 hectares of open space and woodland

3. This information is not held by the Council

Response provided to applicant in table format within a Word document which is available on request

1. Is hate crime included in the council’s current Community Safety plan? 

2. Does the Council have a separate hate crime plan/strategy? 

3. Does the Council have a designated hate crime lead? 

4. Does the Council service facilitate or take part in any hate crime forums? 

5. Does the Council have a designated hate crime information page on its website? 

6. Does the Council facilitate hate crime reporting? 

7. Does the Council have a budget for tackling hate crime? If so what is/was that budget in years 2017/18 through 2022/23? 

8. Does the Council have access to hate crime resources? 

9. Does the Council refer victims of hate crime to independent advice and support services? 

10. Is the Council planning to participate in National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2022 (8-16 October)? 

11. Has the Council participated in previous National Hate Crime Awareness weeks?

1. How many Full Time Equivalent (FTE) appointed local authority officers does the Council have that are Qualified Animal Licensing Activity Inspectors (as defined on the statutory Guidance to the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018?

2. Which qualifications do they hold? For example

a. Institute of Licensing Level 3 Animal Inspectors course

b. National Pet College Level 3 course in association with the City of London

d. Other – Please provide the course title and provider 

3. How many staff does the Council have with current grandfather rights that are currently undertaking an animal welfare inspectors course?

4. Which course are they enrolled with:

a. Institute of Licensing Level 3 Animal Inspectors course

b. National Pet College Level 3 course in association with the City of London

d. Other – Please provide the course title and provider 

5. If the Council currently has no staff who are qualified or working under grandfather rights, who is responsible for carrying out animal activity licensing inspections? 

6. How many of the following animal activities licences does the Council have within its local authority area? 

Self-Build Register and Self Build Completions

Response provided to applicant in Excel format, which is available upon request

1. Amount (£) paid in compensation in relation to Japanese Knotweed growth during each of these calendar years: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022

2. Number of complaints brought against the council in relation to Japanese Knotweed growth during each of the above-mentioned calendar years

1. No records of compensation being paid regarding Japanese Knotweed growth have been located

Please tell me if there has been any discussion in Townhall about

noise reduction originating from front door closing / shutting in

Victorian era party walled terraced properties? 

Please tell me if there has been discussion in Townhall about having

rules in terms of which side the hinge is and which side is opening /

closing is on front doors of terraced properties so as to minimize the

noise from the closing / shutting front door noise  in Victorian era

Please tell me if there has been discussion in Townhall about having

rules in terms of installing door closures on front doors of terraced

properties so as to minimize the noise the closing / shutting front

door noise  in Victorian era party walled terraced properties? 

If there has be no such discussion, please tell me the modus operandi

to have this discussed at Townhall?

The Council confirmed to the applicant, following consultation with Building Control that there are no current building regulations that cover the issue indicated in the request.  There is no requirement for an external from door to have a self-closer

If the applicant wishes to raise a noise complaint, the Council encourages customers to do so through its website. Below is a link which provides guidance on noise nuisance and the link to submit an complaint:

https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/environment/statutory-nuisance/noise-nuisance/

I understand that local authorities received government funding to pay four tranches of COVID small business support grants, to be made available to any small business that got the small business rates exemption - my understanding is that these grants, per business, were for £10k in March 2020, then £3k in November 2020, then £5k in January 2021, and finally, £2.5k

In relation to each tranche of these four grants paid out by your local authority:

1. How many accounts/businesses received payments in respect of properties registered for business rate purposes as self-catering units / holiday lets - and what was the total paid out to these businesses under each tranche?

2. Of these COVID payments to self-catering units, how many were paid to businesses that get full small business rate relief (ie, have no business rates to pay), and how many to businesses that get partial relief (ie, do pay a portion of business rates)?

3. Of these COVID payments to self-catering units in receipt of small business rate relief, how much was paid out in total, and to how many accounts, in respect of self-catering/holiday lets registered to people living outside the council's geographic area, in each tranche?

4. Separately, I would be grateful if you could also provide me with the most up to date figures you have available on the total number of properties registered as second homes for council tax purposes

Unfortunately the Revenues team confirms that they are unable to provide the data requested regarding grants for self-catering units only

The report from their system does not detail the property description so they are unable to identify any self-catering units separately. Also it does not contain any information regarding small business rate relief or the ratepayers address

Therefore to provide the data for questions 1 to 3 would be a manual process. The Revenues team would have to manually look up every account on the report to establish it if was a self-catering unit, if it received small business rate relief and if the ratepayer had an address outside of our area. This would then have to be collated in to a spreadsheet which the team estimates there would be in excess of 16,000 grant payments and that each one would require a minimum of three minutes for checking and collating the information

Section 12 of the Act makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for Local Authorities is set at £450 by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours at £25 per hour in determining whether the Council holds the information, locating, retrieving and collating the information

It has been estimated by the Revenues team that it would take approximately 800 hours to provide the requested information

The procedure would cause serious disruption to the day to day working of the Revenues team and therefore we are unable to process this part of the request any further. As set out in the previous paragraph, the Council has the right to refuse to provide the information in accordance with Section 12 of the Act

4. As at 31 May 2022 the Council had 1,766 properties classed as second homes for Council Tax purposes

Details of the total amount of grant paid for each grant type for North Devon Council (and every other local authority) and information regarding each type of grant can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses

CON29 information relating to a property at EX32 9HX

Applicant provided with the information, where held and also directed to the Council’s website for some of the information

CON29 information relating to a property at EX32 8DH

Applicant provided with the information, where held and also directed to the Council’s website for some of the information

1. What was you annual net spend on public sports and leisure facilities and pitches for the 2012/13 financial year, compared to the 2021/22 financial year please?

2. How many school playing fields were there in May 2012 compared to May 2022?

3. How many free-to-use public sports fields were there in May 2012 compared to May 2022?

1. The following figures are excluding central support costs and capital charges:

2. The Council does not record this information. As a District Council the authority has no direct link with School facilities. You may wish to contact Devon County Council for further information

3. This Council does not directly own or manage any such free-to-use public sports, save for the hire of the pitch we manage at Tarka Tennis Centre, but this space also forms part of “public open space”

All information of sports pitches is available in our Playing Pitch Strategy

This request relates to the authority's Housing Waiting List 

1. How many households were removed from the Housing Waiting List in 2021 (or the last full calendar year where figures are available)? 

2. Please provide a list of the reasons given for the removal from the list? 

3. How many households were removed from the list because of death? 

4. How many households have been on the list for:

(a) between five years and ten years

(b) ten years or more 

5. With regards to households that have been on the list the longest, how long have they been on the list?

2. Blank, Cancelled – Renewal not Completed, Assigned – To be reviewed, Cancelled – Deceased, Cancelled – No longer eligible, Cancelled – No reply to review, Cancelled – other (detail in notes), Rejected – Ineligible, Suspended – Changed of Circumstances

Information relating to seagulls /gulls in the Council’s local area: 

1. How many complaints involving seagulls/gulls did the council receive in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022* 

2. How many incidents involved a seagull/gull attacking an individual or pet in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022* 

3. How much was spent on seagull/gull management in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022**? 

4. Please give a brief description of the measures taken relevant to question 3

5. Does the local authority have a specific fine regime related to gulls?. If so, please give a breakdown of fines given for feeding gulls in the years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022? 

*For 2022, give the latest data at the point of reply 

**If easier, please feel free to supply with financial years if easier

3. 2022 £7,000 from a central government fund

4. 2022 Introduction of a Live Birds of Prey program for Gull management

5. Details of Environmental Fixed Penalty Notices are published via annual datasets, these would include fines associated with the feeding of seagulls causing a nuisance; however as the 2022 dataset is not due to be published until next year, the Council's Environmental Protection team has carried out a search and they confirm that there have been no such FPNs have been issued in 2022 to date

For the financial years 2020/2021 and 2021/2022:

1. How many Court Summons (or Summary Warrants if in Scotland) did your organisation issue for debts relating to Council Tax payments?

2. How many Liability Orders did your organisation successfully obtain for debts relating to Council Tax payments? *Not applicable to Scotland

3. How much total revenue did your organization collect as a result of Bailiffs (or Sheriffs if in Scotland) enforcement action for debts relating to Council Tax payments?

Copies of all correspondence passed to date since May 2017 between the acting executive and senior officers of the North Devon Council, including cabinet members, in relation to Natural Capital and Payment-for-Ecosystems Services mechanisms being considered, developed or deployed within the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

To include all correspondence to and from any company, NGO, Public-Private Partnership, international governmental body, governmental department or non-departmental body concerning or mentioning UNESCO biosphere reserves, biosphere reserve status, Natural Capital/ Assets and Payment-for-Ecosystems Services, inclusive of any emails or text messages (from any instant messaging system, e g, Twitter, Jabber, etc). In the case of email I require the correspondences forwarded as a compressed attachment, with full mail headers intact. Note: in accordance with Section 11(1a) of the Act, the information requested must be provided in a "form acceptable to the applicant."

Applicant advised that the Council’s ICT department has carried out a search to identify if any information is held containing the following:

‘UNESCO (c:s) biosphere (c:s) ‘Unesco reserve’ (c:s) northdevonbiospherefoundation.org.uk (c:s) unesco.org (c:s) bioreserve’

The status of that search identifies that the Council does hold information that falls under search conditions as set out above. Applicant provided with the following result of the search:

In discharge of its obligation under section 1(1)(b), the Council is unable to confirm as to whether it holds any information that is specific to the information you seek, as described in your request. In order to be able to do this it would require a manual search through all of the items of information as identified in the search result above to identify, extract and collate anything that falls under the remit of the request

Section 12 of the Act makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for Local Authorities is set at £450 by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours at £25 per hour in determining whether the Council holds the information, locating, retrieving and collating the information

Given the volume of information that would need to be manually searched through, it would far exceed the 18 hour limit as described above and further to this the procedure would cause serious disruption to the day to day working of the Planning Policy department which would be the department that would be responsible for carrying out this search. Therefore the Council is unable to process the request any further. As set out in the previous paragraph, the Council has the right to refuse to provide the information in accordance with Section 12 of the Act

In accordance with Section 16 of the Act, the Council is require to provide advice and assistance in order to assist with possibly refining the request to bring it under the 18 hour limit, however given that the only way in which the request can be answered would require a manual search, there are no other ways which the Council is able to identify. The Council would be open to working with the applicant if there is any way in which they are able to refine the request or consider a different perspective of trying to obtain the information sought and the Council will be more than happy to assist the applicant as far as I is practicably able, in accordance with the Act

1. How many Ukrainian nationals have registered as homeless with the council broken down by month in March, April, May and June 2022

2. If the information is available, I would like to know what visa they came to Britain on (i e whether they were on the Ukraine Family scheme, Homes for Ukraine or another visa)

Information about the Council’s spending on mayoral cars: 

• How many cars your organisation has. Please also specify the make and model(s) 

• The cost of purchasing a car(s) during 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 

• The cost of leasing a car(s) during 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 

• The cost of fuel for a car(s) during 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 

• The cost of purchasing a personalised number plate(s) during 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 

• The costs associated with maintaining a car(s) during 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 

This includes, but is not limited to, MOT, general service, insurance, and new tyres and parts 

If the authority has a lord mayor, chairman/woman or vice-chairman/woman, please also include this as part of the response

Applicant advised that his authority does not have any mayoral cars and has not had any mayoral cars in any of the financials years as set out in the request

CON29 information relating to a property at EX3 0AE

Applicant advised that no information held

Information relating to accommodation that has been classed as 'exempt'

I am seeking the housing benefit paid for such accommodation, broken down into housing benefit, and to include service charges as outlined below 

Exempt accommodation is defined as: "1) “Exempt accommodation” is a term used in Housing Benefit and Universal Credit to describe supported accommodation where the rules that normally limit the amount of rent covered by a benefit award do not apply. The usual meaning of “exempt accommodation” is where the accommodation is provided by a landlord in the social or voluntary sector and the benefit claimant is provided with care, support or supervision by the landlord or by someone acting on the landlord’s behalf. A claimant occupying exempt accommodation does not have their housing benefit restricted to local housing allowance 

1. details of the lowest awarded eligible core rent 

2. details of the highest awarded eligible core rent 

3. details of the lowest awarded gross eligible rent (i e inclusive of the core rent and the eligible service charges) 

4. details of the highest awarded gross eligible rent (i e inclusive of the core rent and the eligible service charges) 

5. Please confirm the names of exempt accommodation providers in your area. Please name the providers/landlords who currently hold exempt accommodation status in respect of any of their residents

           HF TRUST LTD (SELF UNLIMITED)

           METHODIST HOMES- SOUTH & WEST REGION

            NORTH DEVON AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE

              SANCTUARY HOUSING SOUTH WEST LTD

1. How many electric vehicle charging points have been installed in the local authority to date?

2. How many electric vehicle charging points does the authority plan to install in the next 12 months?

3. How much does the council plan to spend on installing electric vehicle charging points in 2022/2023 (as GBP and as a percentage of overall budget)

How many fines have been issued to the organisers of Jubilee street parties that took place on Friday 3rd June, Saturday 4th June or Sunday 5th June 2022, for breaching criteria for the event? 

Please specify why fines were issued and break down how many were issued for the following breaches: 

- Continuing past the allowed time

- Disrupting residents with music or other noise

- Charging for entry to the event

- The sale of cake and other food items

- Damage to the road or footway

- Failing to clear up rubbish

- Bunting not in line with regulations

- Failing to display clear signs indicating road closure

Applicant advised to contact Devon County Council in relation to issues/damage to roads/footways that no fines were issued by North Devon Council to the organisers of any Jubilee street parties that took place on Friday 3rd June, Saturday 4th June or Sunday 5th June 2022

Billing Authorities hold on account sums of money that are due to be returned to ratepayers and for a variety of reasons have not been repaid 

I therefore request a breakdown of any write on balances accrued since your earliest records, for the amounts owing to all incorporated companies within your authority's billing area, including the following information: 

A. The legal name of each business in respect of which Non-Domestic rate credit balances remain payable

B. The value of overpayment in each case which remains unclaimed

C. The years(s) in which overpayment was made

E. The legal name of each business in respect of which Non-Domestic rate credit balances have been written back on to the NDR account

F. The value of write back in each case which remains unclaimed

G. The years(s) in which the write back was made (if available)

H. The hereditament address that the write back relates to

1. Please can you tell how much the Council’s agreed budget was for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee?

The bridge to nowhere in Barnstaple (Pedestrian Bridge across A39) has been built since 2017, cost £2.7m got closed for 12 months due to health and safety reasons?

I wonder if the council can provide information on how this project has been firstly value for money, secondly benefitted the local communities and last but not least has it bought added investment or benefitted the local economy enough to justify its cost????

CON29 information relating to a property at EX32 7FY

Please can you provide the name, direct telephone number and email address for the following senior management positions responsible for the following Departments: 

1. Director of Corporate Finance: This would be the individual with overall responsibility for Finance within the Council 

2. Head of Corporate Finance: This would be the individual who reports directly into the Director of Corporate Finance 

3. Director of IT. This would be the individual with overall responsibility for IT Services within the Council 

4. Head of IT: This would be the individual who reports directly into the Director of IT  

5. Director and/or Head of Business Intelligence. This/these would be the individual(s) with responsibility for Data, Reporting and Performance Management within the Council

6. Director and/or Head of Procurement. This/these would be the individual(s) with responsibility for Procurement within the Council

7. Director and/or Head of Commissioning. This/these would be the individual(s) with responsibility for Commissioning within the Council 

Finally, please can you confirm the name and/or make of the following IT System 

8. The name(s) and/or make(s) of your Corporate Finance IT System(s). This could be: Agresso, SAP, Oracle

The following link provides a full list of all Senior Management contacts and a list of the teams they are responsible for: https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/council/chief-executive-and-senior-management/

Finance System – Civica UK Ltd

Revenues and Benefits Financial Systems – Civica UK Ltd

ICON Cash Receipting, epayments and Income Management system – Civica UK Ltd

In the last financial year 2021/22 how many incidents did your authority record where refuse collectors were physically assaulted by members of the public while carrying out council duties? Please give a brief description of the circumstances of the incident 

NOTE: By refuse collectors I mean all employees whose main duties are involved in the collection of rubbish (all types) from homes and businesses with your authority 

NOTE: If the refuse collection duties are carried out by a third party company hired by the council the information is still HELD by the council, because it is information held on your behalf

CON29 information relating to a property at EX35 6DG

1. Please provide information about the all the domestic abuse contracts the local authority commissions

2. Please provide information about the domestic abuse contracts the local authority commissions to run refuge and/or safe accommodation for survivors of domestic abuse in your area

1. North Devon District Council does not commission any domestic abuse contracts

Applicant advised that there is a privately funded refuge within the Council’s district for female survivors of domestic violence and abuse, however you will need to direct your request onto Devon County Council as the premises falls under their remit/responsibility

1. What was the total Temporary Accommodation cost to the council in each of the last five financial years?

2. How many residents are on the Council’s social housing Register awaiting placement?

3. What was this figure in each of the last five financial years?

1. This information is published in a dataset and is available via the Council’s website: and is, in accordance with Section 21 of the Act, already publicly available 

In accordance with Section 22 of the Act, the dataset will be updated in September with the 2021/22 data 

2. The number of active applications* on North Devon’s Housing Register as at 16 June 2022 is 2,235 

*Please note that each application is a household and that there may be more than one person in each of those households 

3. The data for the last 5 years is: 

This and other data can be found here Useful Information | Devon Home Choice – please scroll to bottom of that page for Quarterly reports

In regards to council tax, over the last four years, what’s the total number and value of liability orders, bailiff referrals, repayment plans, value of debt referred to bailiffs and value of arrears recovered by bailiffs

Total value of debt referred to bailiffs: £1,488,309.21

Value of arrears recovered by bailiffs: £483,339.88

Total value of debt referred to bailiffs: £1,484,354.15

Value of arrears recovered by bailiffs: £507,352.17

Total value of debt referred to bailiffs: £26,503.58

Value of arrears recovered by bailiffs: £192,486.53

Total value of debt referred to bailiffs: £4,535,638.44

Value of arrears recovered by bailiffs: £1,126,031.86

The number of payment plans are not recorded separately or in a way that that they can be obtained through a generated report through the Council Tax system. The only way the Council Tax team would be able to gather this information would require an officer to manually go through all Council tax accounts (approximately 47,000 properties, many with multiple accounts) and they estimate they would require approximately five minutes per account

Section 12 of the Act makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for Local Authorities is set at £450 by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours at £25 per hour in determining whether the Council holds the information, locating, retrieving and collating the information 

It has been estimated by the Council Tax department that it would take in excess of  3,916 hours to provide the requested information. The procedure would cause serious disruption to the day to day working of the Council Tax department and therefore we are unable to process this part of the request any further. As set out in the previous paragraph, the Council has the right to refuse to provide the information in accordance with Section 12 of the Act

Please take the term 'high rise' to mean 18 meters or 6 six floors and higher, as referred to in the Hackett review 

1.a) The number of private high rise residential buildings in your borough as of 31st May 2022 (or the latest available figures) 

b) The number of private high rise residential buildings with ACM cladding systems in your borough as of 31st May 2022 (or the latest available figures) 

c) The number of private high rise residential buildings in your borough with only one fire escape staircase as of 31st May 2022 (or the latest available figures) 

2. a) The number of social high rise residential buildings in your borough as of 31st May 2022 (or the latest available figures)

b) The number of social high rise residential buildings with ACM cladding systems in your borough as of 31st May 2022 (or the latest available figures) 

c) The number of private high rise residential buildings in your borough with only one fire escape staircase as of 31st May 2022 (or the latest available figures) 

3.a) The number of social high rise residential buildings in your borough as of 31st May 2022 (or the latest available figures) 

b) The number of social high rise residential buildings with ACM cladding systems in your borough as of 31st May 2022 (or the latest available figures) 

4. How does this compare to the situation between 2017 and 2021? For the sake of clarity, please could you provide answers to Q1, Q2 and Q3 but for the following years: 

1. a) b and c) This information is not recorded by the Council

2. a) This information is not recorded by the Council, the Council no longer has a social housing stock of its (apart from a small selection of Temporary Accommodation houses) as this was transferred to North Devon Homes Ltd, 21 February 2000

2. b) and c) As 2.a) above

3. a) This question is the same as 2. a), please refer to the response above to this already given

4. Not Applicable, see response to Q1 through Q3 above

This is an information request relating to refurbishments of the council headquarters 

Please include the following information for the 2021-22 financial year: 

• The total expenditure on refurbishments for the council headquarters 

• A breakdown of this expenditure including 

o Any items purchased, including the name, number and cost, for example sofas, lamps, rugs 

o Any works done, for example, painting, re-carpeting 

Refurbishments should include all items of furniture, appliances and fittings within the building. It should also include works such as paint jobs and carpeting 

Please only provide me with information on the main council offices. This will likely be your town hall

1. A breakdown of the different mechanisms you have used to distribute the Household Support Fund to vulnerable families, e g cash, food parcels, vouchers, investment in existing schemes / services such as food banks (these are examples, not an exhaustive list) 

2. What amount/proportion of the funds were distributed through each method used? 

3. Have you evaluated the success or benefits of specific methods used to distribute funds and if so, how did you do so, i e what Key Performance Indicators do you set? 

4. Have you made decisions yet about disbursement tools for current and future grants and, if so, what mechanisms are you planning to use?

1. Does the Security of Network and Information Systems Regulations (NIS Regulations) apply to the Council or any part of the Council? 

2. Has the Council implemented, or is the Council making preparations for, processes, procedures and policies related to NIS Regs?

a. If yes, when were these implemented?

b. If it is a current project, when do you expect it to be completed?

c. If no, why is it not being implemented? 

3. Has the Council considered training requirements for NIS Regs?

a. If yes has training been delivered?

b. If yes when was it last delivered?

c. If yes, but the consideration decided against training, why was this the case? 

4. Whom is responsible for the NIS D project/management (a job title and name, or if employee is below the disclosable level just a job title is fine)

2. No, a) N/A b) N/A c) The Council does not provide services covered by NIS

3. No, a) – c) N/A

Which individual is responsible for fleet electrification? Please provide this by pdf attachment including their email address and authorisation to contact them regarding matters within their remit

(a) List all Commercial properties with their Rateable Values and addresses

(b) The names and addresses of the Rate payers referred to above for each property

(c) The full billing authority reference for each property (this is the property reference not the account number) and property description

(d) The current liability payable for the year

(e) The date the rateable occupier first became liable for the business rates

(f) If the property is empty that date it became empty

(g) Please also state which hereditament is currently receiving

I. Charitable rate relief (mandatory rate relief)

III. Empty property rate relief

VI Small Business Rate Relief

Applicant advised this information is published in our quarterly datasets:

https://www.northdevon.gov.uk/open-data/?ID=7ED2F924-B000-4771-B16B-181DB316F4E1&DS=4005  

The most recent dataset with this information, ‘All NDR Empty Properties as at 01.04.2022’

In accordance with Section 21(1) of the Act, the Council is not obliged to provide information that is already in the public domain. However, it does have a duty under Section 16(1) to provide all applicants advice and assistance in order to assist with locating the information, which the Council has done so in providing the applicant with the links above

A complete and up-to-date list of all business (non-residential) property rates data for your local authority, and including the following fields: 

- Billing Authority Property Reference Code (linking the property to the VOA database reference) 

- Account Holder name (including sole traders, limited companies, partnerships and PLC's) 

- Firm's Trading Name (if applicable) 

- Full Property Address (Number, Street, Postal Code, Town) 

- Actual annual rates (charged in Pounds) 

- Details of any reliefs or discounts applied to the account

Please provide these data as machine-readable as either a CSV or Microsoft Excel file, capable of re-use, and under terms of the Open Government Licence (meaning reuse for any and all purposes, including commercial)

Applicant advised that all but one item of information requested (Actual annual rates charged in Pounds) is published within its quarterly business rates datasets in CSV format on its website

In accordance with Section 21(1) of the Act, the Council is not obliged to provide information that is already in the public domain. However, it does have a duty under Section 16(1) to provide all applicants advice and assistance in order to assist with locating the information, which it has done so in providing with the link to the datasets above

In accordance with Section 22, the datasets will be updated and re-published during July 2022

The Council’s Revenues team confirms that the following multipliers will enable the applicant to be able to calculate the actual annual rates charged in Pounds:

Further information about can be found on the following website: https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-business-rates

The following for the past 5 years up to and including the year ending April 2022:

*The number of complaints the Local Authority (LA) has received each year from tenants in private rental properties. If the LA does not keep separate figures for the complaints from the Private Rental Sector (PRS) and social housing sector, then please provide the combined total figure for complaints from these sectors and mark it clearly to highlight that it includes both figures 

*The overall number of complaints each year by tenants in all housing 

*The number of HHSRS inspections each year carried out on Private rental properties 

*The number of HHSRS inspections in total each year 

*The number of properties with category 1 and cat 2 hazards identified in the private rental sector each year? Please record cat 1 and 2 separately where possible 

*The number of Hazard Awareness Notices served on PRS properties each year

*The number of formal enforcement notices served: Emergency Remedial Action on PRS properties each year 

*The number of Prohibition orders served on PRS sector each year 

*How many improvement notices have been served in relation to PRS properties for each year 

*The total number of prosecutions (excluding Civil Penalties) commenced on the above formal notices for each year

Information provided to applicant Excel format, which is available upon request

In accordance with Section 21 of the Act details of all Prosecutions carried out by the Council are published within the Council’s Prosecutions  dataset which is updated quarterly

The dataset will be updated and re-published during July 2022

1. A breakdown of how much funding (per year) your business improvement district received between 2018 to 2022 

2. A breakdown of what the funding (per year) was spent on within the local area between 2018 to 2022 

3. A breakdown of how much was spent (per year) on each individual expense between 2018 to 2022 

4. A breakdown of how much of the funding (per year) was spent between 2018 to 2022

North Devon Council does not have a Business Improvement District (BID) and therefore its response to 1 through 4 is Nil