14 April 2023
Your request
Please can i request the following information about Mychaii Cafe, located at 1 Opal St, SE11 4HZ at the North Lambeth office;
The contract, Terms and Conditions, The bidding process and who was involved in the bidding process?
Did you have a signed declaration of interest before opening the tender documents?
Please can I also request the license.
Our response
The lease is attached.
Please note that personal data has been redacted as we consider disclosure would breach the Data Protection Act 2018 and therefore engage Regulation 13: Personal Data to this request.
We consider disclosure would breach the Data Protection Act 2018 and therefore engage Regulation 13 to this request.
The definition of personal data is set out in provision 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 as follows:
(2)“Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable living individual
(3)“Identifiable living individual” means a living individual who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to
(a)an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data or an online identifier, or
(b)one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of the individual.
We note this request asks for information which would allow an individual(s) to be identified.
I have considered whether it would be fair to disclose the information including whether disclosure would cause any unnecessary or unjustified damage or distress to the individual concerned; the individual’s reasonable expectations of what would happen to their information; and balancing the rights and freedoms of the data subject with legitimate interests.
In this case, I can confirm that it would not be fair to the individuals to disclose their personal data as it could cause distress to the individuals.
I do not consider that the individuals would expect the Council to disclose any information which may allow them to be identified. Although I acknowledge the legitimate interest in disclosing general information relating to your request, I do not consider the legitimate interest overrides the rights and freedoms of the individual on this occasion.
This letter represents a Refusal Notice for this part of the request.
We have also redacted the rental amount; this is because this amount was only agreed on the basis of this being an initial pilot, the lessee covering all conversion costs and providing the social value requirements we have asked for. Any new contractor will not get this same offer so this information has been removed.
Terms and Conditions
The Community Café is part of a wider Neighbourhood Working pilot project which is underway and encompasses the ground floor of the North Area Housing Office which includes Pedlars Acre Hall. The attached lease outlines the T&Cs of the partnership agreement, but to summarise the community café was granted permission provided they could meet our requirements to:
- Convert a disused space into a community amenity
- Create jobs and hire local residents
- Provide social value through affordable rates
- Work to commit to the London Living wage
- Commit to supporting food poverty
- Commit to facilitate and be involved in community events
- Menu items must be at affordable rates and not to commercial high street rates
- Manage the hall bookings process with the council
- Provide bi-yearly reports on community/social value involvement
The bidding process and who was involved in the bidding process?
As the value of this tender was for less than £5k a competitive tender process was not required.
The concept of the community café came from the successful OCA foodbank ran from the hall during the pandemic. The foodbank provider made the proposal to the Resident Engagement Team‘s Neighbourhood Working & Engagement Coordinator. The idea was to make better use of disused space in the hall by piloting a community café which would fit into the wider council initiative of the Neighbourhood Working Hub project.
The opportunity was shared amongst the Resident Engagement team‘s network of voluntary sector groups to gather any interest and to submit a quote in the form of a business plan. Two parties showed initial interest, but one party pulled out as they were not willing to take on the costs required for converting the space. The remaining organisation was selected by the Neighbourhood Working & Engagement Coordinator. The Director of Housing agreed to proceed with a lease on the basis of the benefits that will be provided to the community and how the community café contributes to being part of the wider Neighbourhood Working Hub.
Did you have a signed declaration of interest before opening the tender documents?
Yes
Please can I also request the license.
I can confirm that Lambeth Council does not hold the information requested. Regulation 12(4)(a) of the EIR states that a public authority may refuse to disclose information to the extent that it does not hold that information when an applicant’s request is received.
As of today’s date, the tenant has registered and awaiting a visit to the premises before a license can be issued and as such this information is not held.