EIR - Electricity grid issues in West London [Sep 2022]

Your request

1. Please can you provide all correspondence/communication between the GLA and Ealing Council with regards to the communication mentioned in the following article (Financial Times)
2. As per item 1, but in relation to GLA and Developers who have been contacted in relation to the electricity grid issues

Our response

A copy of the letter from the GLA to Ealing Council on 24 May 2022 titled "Electricity Capacity in West London" is available on our Disclosure Log at FOI - Electricity Capacity in West London [Jun 2022] | London City Hall

The information pack and questionnaire we sent out to all developer contacts as well as some clarification text that went out after the original message is available on the following links:

• West London Electrical Capacity Constraints
• appendix_3_excel_questionnaire.xlsx (live.com)
• West London Electrical Capacity Constraints Clarification

The template email text that went out to developer contacts is included as the final message in the attached. Please note that some messages in the attached include the West London Alliance based at Ealing Council. Its staff are formally Ealing employees, but it is an umbrella representative group for the seven West London boroughs (Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow) and has been working on this issue on behalf of its members as a whole rather than on Ealing-specific issues.

The GLA holds two further email exchanges (email chains) which are exempt from disclosure by virtue of the disclosure-exception provision found under regulations 12(4)(d) and 12(5)(f) of the EIR. Regulation 12(4)(d) is engaged when the request relates to material that is still in the course of completion, unfinished documents or incomplete data. If the information in question falls into one of these categories, then the exception is engaged.

Guidance published by the Information Commissioner clarifies:

• “The fact that the exception refers to both material in the course of completion and unfinished documents implies that these terms are not necessarily synonymous. While a particular document may be itself be finished, it may be part of material still in the course of completion. An example may be where a public authority is formulating and developing policy.”

The same guidance also clarifies that material which is still in the course of completion can include information created as part of the process by which it formulates policy and reaches decisions.

Regulation 12(5)(f) applies when disclosure would adversely affect the interests of someone who supplied the information. The communications contain information provided to the GLA on a voluntary basis, and the third parties were not under any legal duty to provide it. In this instance, the communications involve discussions between the GLA and LB Ealing in relation to policy considerations affecting data centres. Disclosure of such discussions could impact upon development viability and commercial arrangements going forward.

It is not necessary for the GLA to demonstrate where disclosure might have a particular adverse effect in order to engage the exceptions, but any adverse effects of disclosure may be relevant in the public interest considerations which the GLA is required to balance in order to decide whether the information should be withheld.

There is a strong public interest in the release of information that would inform and engage public debate on issues pertinent to policy and decision making regarding energy capacity. The disclosure of these discussions may help reassure the public that we are considering the most appropriate options and advice.

Effective policy and decision making should be informed by engaging with the public and key stakeholders; however this engagement needs to be structured to be effective. Release of this information at this time would divert attention and resources away from the task at hand and towards responding to external thoughts whilst discussions are still ongoing. At this stage, we consider that the best interests of the public – i.e. the public interest – is best served by ensuring that public authorities continue to deliberate robustly and comprehensively, considering all options and their potential impacts, in order for the best possible decisions to be taken.