We have a minimum charge of £65.50 no vat chargeable based on the overhead rate for officer time that we are told about each year by finance. Strictly this is for an hour but in practice upto to 2 hours to get a response issued. We retain some flexibility as we often learn something or improve our records within this.
Complex enquiries are multiples of this amount estimated in advance.
Stock email responses logged on GIS have accumulated over the years and these are reissued free of charge if suitable mostly assisting single domestic property requests. Its not unusual to get the same commercial envi searches for similar or identical properties on a development every few years. The mechanisms the search companies have for noting our responses seems a bit iffy.
We cant charge more than this hourly rate as it’s the only one we have finance data to support. It seems high to me but is used for other purposes in the council so it is what it is.
The advice given by the office of the information commissioner has changed over the years regarding officer time charging and rates.
We don’t charge less for one group or another as we don’t have a policy basis for doing so and we feel we accommodate many simple requests using stock responses .
When we did have differential charging for commercial vs householder we found solicitors / companies got their clients to ask for information as homeowners at a lower rate which did not help clarity.
Regards
Martin Wright
Senior Regulatory Services Officer
Regulatory Services Cheshire West and Chester Council
Tel: 01606 288664
Email: [log in to unmask]
Location: 1st Floor, Wyvern House, The Drumber, Winsford, Cheshire, CW7 1AH
Visit: cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
Textphone (for hearing impaired, deaf and speech impaired customers) 01606 867 670
Fax 01606 867885
-----Original Message-----
From: Contaminated Land Management Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Fabia Pollard
Sent: 08 May 2018 16:56
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Commercial charges Environmental Information Regulations 2014
Hi Liz
We charge £60 (2 hours) for uncomplicated enquiries and £30 per hour for more detailed requests. Details on our webpage (due for update soon) https://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/info/20138/contaminated_land/177/advice_for_home_buyers
Best regards
Fabia Pollard RSoBRA
Scientific Officer
Environmental Quality
Environment & Planning
Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk
T 01553 616587
E [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Contaminated Land Management Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Liz Hamer
Sent: 08 May 2018 10:37
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Commercial charges Environmental Information Regulations 2014
Hello all,
I sent this as an EHCNET message and obtained a couple of responses (thanks to my two responders!). Hoping that the question via this forum will elicit more responses......
Is anyone willing to share their EIR charging schemes particularly in relation to differentiating for commercial charges which cover the consultants queries associated with due diligence/land transactions etc which we all get regularly.
We currently charge £80/hour but are being asked to reduce this to half a days work for free and £24/hour thereafter. Makes no sense to me in this financial climate.
I will collate circulate the responses to the group so we can benchmark against other LA's.
ICO EIR Charging Guidance states:
In general, a reasonable charge may include the actual costs of staff time taken to locate information and put it in an appropriate format for disclosure and the disbursement costs in transferring the information to the applicant. This is in contrast to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) where disbursements are the only charges permitted unless the appropriate cost limit is exceeded.
Commercial charges are permitted in limited circumstances.
The context of a request can affect the reasonableness of any charge. In the East Sussex case, the charge was for providing property search information that is a necessary part of a commercial property transaction. The CJEU noted that the charge for information was a very small part of the wider costs involved in the transaction. A reasonable charge in this commercial context may differ from a reasonable charge when a local residents’ group is seeking information about pollution, for example.
Enjoy the fantastic weather!
Kind Regards
[log in to unmask] Telephone 01724 297633
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