Freedom of information (FOI) releases from Guildford

This is a disclosure log of Guildford Council's responses to freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) requests that might be of wider public interest.

If you can't find the information you're looking for, you can make a new FOI request.

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754 disclosures

  1. Surrey Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) Costs

    I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act to request the following information:

    Questions:

    1.     How much has the local authority spent to date (2024-26) on matters relating to Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution?

    2.     How much has the local authority budgeted to spend in the future on matters relating to Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution before it is abolished in 2027?

    Note: The above figures should include funds being allocated and spent by the council but covered by central government grants or other external sources of funding.

    Published: 6 October 2026

  2. Developer Contributions (S106/CIL)

    I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act to request the following:

    Please provide the following information covering Section 106 planning obligation contributions and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts held by the council.

    1. The closing (unspent) balance of Section 106 monies held by the council at the end of each financial year from 2019/20 to 2025/26.

    2. The closing (unspent) balance of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts held by the council at the end of each of the same financial years.

    3. The total value of a) Section 106 and b) CIL monies that have been returned or repaid to developers in each financial year from 2016/17 to 2025/26 (or the closest available ten-year range), for any reason.

    Published: 6 October 2026

  3. Private-rented affordability procedure in force on 22 July 2026

    I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act to request the following information:

    I am seeking recorded, non-personal information about the Council’s procedure for assessing self-sourced private-rented accommodation.

    Please provide copies of the following recorded information, in the versions that were in force on 22 July 2026:

      1.  Any policy, procedure, workflow, operational guidance, officer guidance, manual, checklist, process map, briefing/training material or instruction governing when Guildford Borough Council’s Homelessness & Housing Options, Housing Advice or Homes4You services would assess the affordability of a private-rented property identified by a homelessness applicant.

     

      2.  Any recorded policy, procedure, guidance or instruction stating that, before the Council would assess affordability or consider financial assistance, an applicant was required to have done any of the following:

      *   viewed the property;

      *   obtained an indication from the landlord or agent that they were willing to consider the applicant;

      *   completed landlord/agent checks;

      *   submitted an offer that had been accepted or provisionally accepted; and/or

      *   had the property confirmed as available to that applicant.

     

      3.  Any recorded guidance identifying the precise threshold or stage at which an applicant should submit a self-sourced property to the Council for affordability consideration or possible financial assistance.

     

      4.  Any workflow, form, checklist, process map or officer instruction governing what should happen after an applicant supplies details of a prospective property and asks the Council to assess its affordability, including who is responsible for initiating any internal assessment, referral or financial-assistance consideration.

     

    5.  Any policy, procedure, guidance or criteria in force on 22 July 2026 governing assistance with a private tenancy deposit, rent in advance, bond/guarantee, landlord incentive or a reasonable/affordable rent shortfall.

     

    6.  Where any document responsive to points 1–5 changed between 8 July and 3 September 2026, please provide both the version in force on 22 July 2026 and the later version, together with any recorded effective date, issue date, revision date or version history held by the Council.

     

    For each numbered point, please confirm whether recorded information falling within that description is held. If no recorded policy, workflow, guidance or instruction existed for a particular threshold or step, please say so expressly rather than creating a retrospective explanation.

    I am asking for documents and recorded information as held, rather than for the Council to create a new explanation of the process.

    Please include relevant material that was made available to frontline housing officers through internal systems or intranet resources where it contained the applicable procedure, but exclude individual applicants’ case records and personal data.

    If the relevant information is already publicly available, please identify and link to the exact document/version that was in force on 22 July 2026 rather than only directing me to a general webpage.

    If different procedures applied to Homes4You and the general Homelessness & Housing Options service, please provide the relevant material for each.

    If you consider that compliance with the request as drafted would exceed the appropriate cost limit, please provide advice and assistance under section 16 before refusing the request, identifying which element causes the difficulty and how the request can be narrowed. If necessary, please prioritise points 1–4, as those are the core of the request.

    Where a document contains exempt material alongside disclosable procedural information, please provide the remainder with appropriate redactions rather than withholding the document in full where possible.

    Please provide the information electronically in its original format where reasonably practicable.

                                                                                                                      

    Published: 6 October 2026

  4. Freedom of Information Request – Household and Council Housing Counts by Postcode

    Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (and, where applicable, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004), I am writing to request information regarding household counts and local authority housing stock within the Guildford Borough Council area.

    Requested Information: For each full postcode (e.g., GU1 1AA) located within the Guildford Borough Council area, please provide a breakdown showing:

      1.  Total Number of Households / Residential Properties recorded on the Council Tax database.

    2.  Total Number of Council Housing Properties owned/managed by the local authority.

    Published: 6 October 2026

  5. Homelessness Applications

    I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act to request the following information:

    Questions:

    1. Please provide copies of any policy and practice documents currently used or relied upon by your housing officers to manage the initial approach of homeless applicants and how they are required to make their homelessness application. Such documents could include, but not be limited to:

    (a) guidance notes;

    (b) briefings;

    (c) training materials or records;

    (d) reports;

    (e) recent reviews of your homelessness service; and/or

    (f) internal policy/practice documents.

     

    2. Please confirm the different methods by which you currently assist homeless applicants who approach the council to make a homelessness application under the provisions of the Housing Act. In particular, please confirm whether services are provided via:

    (a) online application form;

    (b) email;

    (c) telephone booking;

    (d) in-person appointments; and/or

    (e) other (please specify).

     

    3. For each of the methods at 2(a) to (e) above, are they available on an on-demand basis or are they restricted to appointment only?

     

    4. Do you publicly advertise each of the above methods?

    (a) If so, where and in what format is the information about how to access these services provided?

     

    5. What in-person services do you offer to people who need to make a homelessness application and in what circumstances?

    (a) Where you are not meeting applicants face-to-face, what methods do you have in place to ensure that you have sufficient information about the applicants to process homelessness applications and prioritise available housing?

     

    6. How do you triage someone who presents in person seeking homelessness assistance? What information do you provide to that person, and in what format?

     

    7. If services are restricted to appointment only (i.e. walk-ins are not
    accommodated):

    (a) how can those appointments be booked?

    (b) what are the current wait times for securing an initial appointment?

    (c) what criteria are applied in prioritising the order in which appointments are
    offered?

     

    8. Have the methods for accessing homelessness services in 2(a) to (e) above changed in the last 6 years?

    (a) If so, please explain the changes and when they were implemented.

    (b) At the time any of these changes were being contemplated or implemented, did you conduct any impact assessment on those who might be adversely affected by the relevant change? If so, what were the results of those impact assessments?

    (c) Since the relevant change, have you observed any changes in:

    (i) the number of homeless applicants;

    (ii) the profile of homeless applicants; or

    (iii) the method via which they have accessed homelessness services or made an homeless application?

     

    9. How many homelessness applications have you received each year for the past 6 years?

    (a) In each of those years, how many applications have been received via each of the methods at 2(a) to (d) above?

    (b) Do you track statistics on the profile of applicants and whether they may face difficulties in accessing services via the different methods above, including, but not limited to:

    (i) illiteracy or low literacy;

    (ii) individuals who are digitally excluded;

    (iii) people with disabilities;

    (iv) elderly people; and/or

    (v) non-English speakers.

    (c) What assistance and/or special provisions do you make for any individuals who may face difficulties in accessing services?

    (i) Are any of these restricted in any way? For example, is an applicant required to demonstrate a specific disability in order to be offered certain types of support?

     

    10. How many in-person appointments do you provide daily?

    (a) On which days of the week, during what hours and at which locations are in-person appointments available?

    (b) Of the total number of daily in-person appointments you offer to
    constituents generally, how many are available for homelessness
    applicants?

    (c) On average across the past 6 years, how many people that have presented for in-person appointments each day were offered appointments?

     

    11. How do you receive and deal with urgent homelessness applications?

     

    12. Do you offer emergency walk-in slots daily? If yes:

    (a) How many emergency slots are available each day and on which days of the week?

    (b) Are these slots solely for homelessness appointments or are they for a range of council services?

     

    13. Do you rely on, or direct applicants to, other third party or local authority services for assistance in making a homelessness application? If so:

    (a) Please specify the service providers.

    (b) Do you train those service providers on how to assist?

    (c) For each of these service providers:

    (i) What are their hours of operation?

    (ii) Are there any access restrictions in place? In particular, are they
    available on a walk-in basis or do they need to be booked in
    advance? If booking is required, what is the process?

     

    14. Have you received any complaints:

    (a) in relation to the process for accessing homelessness support;

    (b) from anyone who has struggled to access homelessness support due to the closure of, or restrictions on, face-to-face homelessness services you provide; or

    (c) from other service providers as a result of the closure of, or restrictions on, face-to-face homelessness services you provide?

                                                                                     

    Published: 6 October 2026

  6. HML / B-hive planning engagement and development proposals

    Please treat this as a request under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applied to any information that falls outside the EIR.

    I request recorded information about development proposals and related planning engagement with Guildford Borough Council during the five years from 3 September 2021 to 3 September 2026 inclusive.

    1. Search scope

    Please identify cases through BOTH of the following routes:

    A. Borough-wide: planning and pre-application matters involving the HML property-management group or B-hive, whether acting as applicant, agent, managing agent, client or representative of a landowner, freeholder or residents' management company.

    Relevant names include

    HML / HML Group,

    HML PM Ltd (04231933),

    B-hive Property Solutions (including the trading name and company 10690493),

    B-hive Company Secretarial Services Ltd (07106746, formerly HML Company Secretarial Services Ltd).

    Please also include entries under:

    Vegner Group Ltd / formerly HML Holdings Ltd (05728008)

    Vegner Holdings Ltd / formerly HML Group Holdings Ltd (12708049) where they concern HML/B-hive development-related activity.

    These are search identifiers, not an assertion that the entities are interchangeable or own particular land.

    B. Location-based, irrespective of the applicant's or agent's name:
    the Barnwood Close apartment blocks, including Nos 1-18, and adjoining land, woodland and pedestrian corridor between Barnwood Close and Broad Street, beside The Pines and Langford Close / the former Hare and Hounds at 57 Broad Street, Guildford. Include proposals incorporating any part of this land within a larger site, or proposing access across it.

    For both routes, include paid or unpaid pre-application enquiries/advice, recorded informal development discussions, planning performance agreements, formal planning applications, outline/reserved matters, prior approvals, amendments and condition applications.

    Include cases opened during the period even if subsequently withdrawn, refused, closed, inactive or never followed by an application; also include older cases where recorded advice, correspondence, a decision or other case activity occurred during the period. Supply any earlier linked references already recorded on those files.

    2. Case information and approvals

    For each identified case, please supply the following information insofar as held, preferably as a CSV, spreadsheet or existing register extract:

    - case/application reference and type;
    - site address and any recorded site identifier;
    - applicant/client, agent and the recorded role of HML/B-hive or its associated entity;
    - proposal description, including any recorded demolition, replacement buildings, conversion, proposed dwelling numbers and net change;
    - opening/receipt date, dates of advice and latest recorded substantive activity;
    - current recorded status, outcome, decision date and reason for closure where recorded;
    - related pre-application and formal application references;
    - any fee charged, waived or paid, where recorded on the planning/pre-application file.

    Please provide the decision notice and officer/committee report for each formal approval, or direct links to those documents. For other publicly available case information, direct case links are acceptable.

    3. Supporting records for the location in 1B

    For cases relating to this location, please also provide:

    - submitted proposal descriptions, site/red-line plans and layout or demolition plans;
    - written pre-application advice, substantive meeting notes and correspondence recording the Council's advice or position;
    - any recorded advice about trees, root protection areas, landscaping, pedestrian access or site clearance in connection with a development proposal;
    - records identifying the party commissioning the advice and the freeholder/developer/client represented, insofar as recorded and disclosable;
    - any submitted consultation or resident-notification material held on the proposal file, with residents' personal details redacted;
    - any related request or decision to vary or release a Council-held restrictive covenant or planning obligation to facilitate development.

    I seek existing records, not a new investigation or assessment of whether a scheme is acceptable. Routine property-management correspondence unrelated to development proposals is outside scope.

    4. Search, retention and disclosure

    Please search the relevant non-public pre-application/case-management and document records, retained archived or linked application files, and identifiable planning correspondence recording informal advice. A public-portal-only search would not answer this request.

    Your published pre-application privacy information states that pre-applications are retained for two years if no subsequent planning application is received. Please include older in-scope information that remains held in registers, linked files or other retained records. Where information is no longer held, please distinguish this from information withheld, and supply the relevant retention rule and any held record identifying the disposal date and affected case.

    Please preserve in-scope records held when this request is received while the request is being considered, including records otherwise due for routine deletion.

    Where an exception is relied upon, please identify it, explain its application and any required public-interest assessment, and disclose the remaining information with proportionate redactions. If commercial confidentiality is relied upon, please address the specific harm and the public interest in understanding proposals affecting homes, trees, amenity and pedestrian access.

    If any part creates a substantial retrieval burden, please provide advice and assistance under regulation 9, identifying the difficult part and a workable refinement. My priorities are the case information in section 2 and the location-specific advice and site plans in section 3. I welcome staged disclosure without treating the remainder as withdrawn.

    Please provide an electronic response, acknowledge the request reference and confirm the response due date. This is a separate information request, not an amendment to, or request to suspend, any existing complaint or enforcement investigation.

    Published: 6 October 2026

  7. Business Rates - Improvement Relief

    I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act to request the following information:

    - A list of all the local authority reference numbers (as per the Valuation Office Agency website) of the properties that have been awarded Improvement Relief since the scheme was introduced from 01/04/2024.

    Published: 6 October 2026

  8. Commercial non domestic rates

    I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act to request the following information:

    I would be grateful if you could provide the following information, held by Surrey Heath in relation to commercial (non-domestic rated) properties within your authority:

    1. A list of all commercial properties currently receiving Empty Property Relief, or otherwise showing a nil or void business rates liability.

    2. For each property, where held: the full address, rateable value, and the date the property was first recorded as empty or the date relief commenced.

    3. If possible, please indicate the property use class (e.g. retail, office, industrial) where this is recorded.

    Published: 6 October 2026

  9. Business rates data query

    I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act to request the following information:

    I have recently downloaded your April 2026 business rates data from https://www.guildford.gov.uk/article/25028/Business-rates-information-2017-2026

    However, there doesn't seem to be any RHL information. Please could you provide me with a list of properties currently in receipt of RHL, or alternatively include this within the dataset?

    Published: 6 October 2026

  10. Cemetery Staff Conduct and Bereavement Service Procedures enquiry

    I am submitting a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

    I am researching local authority cemetery operational practices and how burial authorities balance the operational and safety requirements of cemetery staff with the dignity, privacy and experience of bereaved families during burial services.

    Please provide the following information relating to cemetery staff/operatives involved in burial services at your authority’s cemeteries.

    1. Staff conduct and funeral etiquette

    Please provide copies of any current policies, procedures, guidance documents, training materials or operational instructions relating to:

      *   expected conduct of cemetery staff during burial services;

      *   professional behaviour, discretion and sensitivity around mourners;

      *   maintaining dignity during funeral or committal services;

      *   interaction between cemetery staff and bereaved families during burial ceremonies;

      *   expectations regarding staff presence, visibility or positioning during burial services.

    2. Staff presence and positioning during burial services

    Please confirm whether cemetery staff are expected to remain present at the graveside throughout the duration of a burial service.

    If staff are required to remain present, please provide any written guidance or procedures relating to:

      *   where cemetery staff should position themselves during a burial service;

      *   whether staff are expected to remain visible to mourners throughout the service;

      *   whether staff are expected to maintain a particular distance from mourners where practicable;

      *   avoiding unnecessary intrusion into the area occupied by mourners during the funeral or committal service, where operational requirements allow.

    If no such written guidance exists, please confirm this.

    3. Training provided to cemetery staff

    Please provide details of any training provided to cemetery staff which covers:

      *   funeral etiquette;

      *   bereavement awareness;

      *   communication with mourners;

      *   sensitivity and professionalism during burial services;

      *   understanding the emotional impact of staff actions and positioning during funerals.

    Please provide copies of any relevant training materials where available.

    4. Risk assessments and operational requirements

    Please provide copies of any risk assessments, method statements or operational assessments which address:

      *   the requirement for cemetery staff to remain present during burial services;

      *   the requirement for staff to remain visible to mourners;

      *   how staff presence is balanced against the privacy and dignity of bereaved families.

    5. Use of external guidance

    Please confirm whether your authority uses guidance, standards or training materials produced by external organisations, including but not limited to the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM), in relation to staff conduct during burial services.

    If applicable, please provide details of:

      *   the guidance or training used;

      *   whether it is mandatory or advisory;

      *   whether it specifically addresses dignity, discretion, sensitivity or conduct around mourners.

                                                                                                                         

    Published: 6 October 2026