Agenda item

To agree that the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of appendix 2 to items 7 and 8, Appendix 1 to item 12, the appendix to item 18 (to be circulated at the meeting) and appendices 1,2 and 4 to item 24

RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as exempt on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of the exempt information so designated as follows:

(a)  Appendix 2 to both of the reports referred to in minutes 147 and 148 under the terms of Access to Information Procedure Rule 10.4(1) and (2) and on the grounds that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information because Education Leeds has a duty to secure improvement and increased confidence in the schools concerned and this would be adversely affected by disclosure of the information.

(b)  Appendix 1 to the report referred to in minute 153 under the terms of Access to Information Procedure Rule 10.4(3) on the grounds that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information because publication could prejudice the Council’s commercial interests, as, both the appendix and the Final Business Case include matters where final negotiations in the contract are not yet complete, these negotiations being confidential between the Council and the Preferred Bidder and contain sensitive commercial information supplied to the Council by the preferred bidder.

(c)  The appendix to the report referred to in minute 160 under the terms of Access to Information Procedure Rule 10.4(3) and on the grounds that this information is not publicly available from the statutory registers of information kept in respect of certain companies and charities.  It is considered that since this information was obtained through one to one negotiations for the disposal of the property/land then it is not in the public interest to disclose this information at this point in time as this could lead to random competing bids which would undermine this method of negotiation and affect the integrity of disposing of property/land by this process.  Also it is considered that the release of such information would or would be likely to prejudice the Council’s commercial interests in relation to other similar transactions in that prospective purchasers of other similar properties could access information about the nature and level of consideration which may prove acceptable to the Council.  It is considered that whilst there may be a public interest in disclosure, much of this information will be publicly available from the Land Registry following completion of this transaction and consequently the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing this information at this point in time.

(d)  Appendices 1, 2 and 4 to the report referred to in minute 166 under the terms of Access to Information Procedure Rule 10.4(3) and on the grounds that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information by reason of the fact that disclosure of appendices 1 and 2 could potentially prejudice the success of the scheme by speculative investors acquiring properties in advance of the Council’s action and that appendix 4 contains costs attributed to the purchase of private properties which are estimates at this stage and disclosure could prejudice the Council’s ability to reach agreement on the purchase price with owners.

(e)  Appendix 1 to the report referred to in minute 168 under the terms of Access to Information Procedure Rule 10.4(3) and on the grounds that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information because it contains costs and details about the relationships between the parties where disclosure could prejudice the Council’s position in dealing with potential claims and future negotiations.