Disclosure Log

05 January 2026

Thank you for your request for information regarding Solar PV assets owned or controlled by the Devon & Torbay Combined County Authority (DTCCA).  We consider your enquiry to fall within the scope of ‘environmental information’ as defined under Section 2(1)(a)-(f) of the EIR, and have therefore processed your request in accordance with these Regulations.

The DTCCA can confirm that it does not own or control any Solar PV sites, nor has it procured any Solar PV related goods or services within the past three years.

Accordingly, the information you have requested is not held, in line with Section 12(4)(a) of the Regulations.

18 December 2025

Further to your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, received on 5^th December 2025, regarding consultation on the development of the DTCCA Corporate Plan, please find attached a spreadsheet* listing all organisations engaged as part of the DTCCA 2025-35 Corporate Plan Consultation.

Individual names have not been included, as we consider this information exempt from disclosure under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 – ‘Personal Information’.  Individual names constitute third-party personal data, which becomes identifiable when combined with the name of the organisation.

Disclosure would therefore be unfair and unlawful, contravening the first data protection principle, as those individuals would not reasonably expect their personal data to be made public in response to an FOI request.  Where individuals hold a sufficiently senior role and could reasonably expect disclosure, their job title has been included.

*Spreadsheet available upon request.

18 December 2025

1. The names of each group’s members and the organisation(s) to which they are attached in connection with their role in the group

The membership list for each Advisory Group, along with the associated organisation(s), is available within the a spreadsheet when requested.

1. The Terms of Reference of each Group

All Terms of Reference are set out within Section 5 of the DTCCA Constitution which is publicly available to view on our website.

1. Each Group’s Guiding Principles

Each Advisory Group is expected to abide by the Government’s Seven Principles of Public Life (commonly known as the Nolan Principles). There are no additional guiding principles held for any of the Advisory Groups.

1. All the recorded information you hold concerning each group’s meetings since its inception including, but not limited to agendas, attendance records, minutes, reports or other documents.”

In the interests of openness and transparency, the DTCCA is currently in the process of preparing all recorded information relating to its Advisory Group meetings, from inception to the present time, for publication on our website.

As this material is already intended for future publication, we are applying Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 – ‘Information Intended for Future Publication’.

We recognise that Section 22 is a qualified exemption and therefore subject to the Public Interest Test.  While we acknowledge the public interest in openness, transparency and timely access to information held by public authorities, on balance we consider that the public interest in withholding the information at this stage outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Our reasons for this are as follows:-

• The information is currently being prepared for publication and will be made publicly available once finalised.
• Releasing the information prematurely could result in the disclosure of incomplete or draft material, which may be misleading.
• It is in the public interest for public authorities to manage their resources efficiently and avoid unnecessary duplication of work.

We can confirm that the information is scheduled for publication by 1^st April 2026 at the very latest.  Once published, it will be publicly available for review on the DTCCA website

10 October 2025

1. Does the Devon and Torbay Combined Authority have a conservation team or a similar team that is typically consulted on planning applications; and, if so, what the organisational structure is in relation to this – i.e., teams, departments, and so on.
2. Details of training or qualifications prerequisite for any standard conservation officer.
3. If it is disclosable, if I could please have email addresses for any teams, as I would like to send a short survey related to my dissertation some time next summer for any officers who might be interested in completing it.

The Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (DTCCA) does not have a conservation or similar team and is not regularly consulted on planning applications. This information is, therefore, not held.

The DTCCA does not employ conservation officers.  This information is, therefore, not held.

The DTCCA does not have an applicable contact.  This information is, therefore, not held.

17 September 2025

The Combined Authority holds a pre-meeting with the Chair and Vice Chair to discuss the agenda and logistics of the main Board Meeting. These meetings are non-decision-making, and we have held three such meetings ahead of the March, May, and July 2025 Board Meetings. Councillor Thomas, as Chair of the DTCCA, has attended these meetings, as has Councillor Brazil in his position as Vice Chair since his appointment in May 2025. Prior to Councillor Brazil’s appointment, the previous Leader of Devon County Council attended the meetings in his position as Vice-Chair. No minutes are taken, as the meetings are procedural in nature.

The Combined Authority is planning to hold more substantive pre-meetings with all members of the DTCCA Board to discuss the agenda and reports in greater detail ahead of future meetings.

Request for Information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004

Thank you for your request for information, received on 12 June 2025, which we have processed under the above legislation.

As the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority is not a Local Planning Authority (LPA), we can confirm that the requested information is not held, in accordance with the terms laid out within Section 12(4)(a) of the Regulations.

The LPA function usually falls under the remit of district, city and unitary councils, so you may wish to redirect your request accordingly.  Contact details for neighbouring authorities in Devon can be found by following the link provided.

Request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

8th April 2025

1. Business Advisory Group – the names of the members and the organisations each represents

A membership list for the Business Advisory Group is available upon request

Additional request received for a membership list for the Skills and Employment Advisory Group, which is available upon request.

2. The number of members who are representative of Equality Act protected characteristics

The CCA acknowledges that Equal Opportunity (EO) forms were issued at the start of the recruitment process for monitoring purposes. However, not all participants chose to complete these forms, and some of those who did, opted not to answer certain questions. Consequently, the data collected is incomplete and does not provide an accurate representation of individuals who may possess protected characteristics. 

With specific reference to the protected characteristics data held by the CCA which constitutes special category data as defined by Article 9(1) of the UK GDPR, applicants who completed the EO forms were assured that their data would be treated with the utmost confidentiality. The CCA views this assurance as establishing a Duty of Confidentiality towards these individuals and therefore considers this information exempt from disclosure under Section 41 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 – ‘Information provided in confidence’ 

Additionally, given the low number of individuals concerned, this information is also deemed exempt from disclosure under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000  – ‘Personal Information’ as the data could potentially be directly linked to the individuals concerned (particularly as they have been named in response to question 1), and its release could be considered ‘unfair’ under the terms of the first data protection principle at Chapter 2 – Article 5 (a) of the UK GDPR. 

However, we can advise that there is a general expectation that members of all Advisory Groups would be cognisant of the duties that arise from the Equality Act and given that Groups are supported by officers of the CCA and each Constituent Council, we are satisfied that those duties will be adhered to. 

3. The process by which invitations to apply for membership was publicised

A recruitment process was undertaken in 2024, the recruitment pack is available upon request.

4. The specific selection criteria used in making appointments

The specific criteria are contained within the Final Recruitment Pack provided in response to question 3.

5. An explanation of whether the provision “Leaders of the Constituent Councils will also have the flexibility to adjust the membership of the board” refers to individual members or the categories of membership

This provision relates to both categories of membership and individual members.

6. Information on (a) whether advisory group meetings can be attended by press and public and (b) whether agendas will be published (and if so, how) in advance of a meeting.

Advisory Group meetings are held in private and are designed to inform decision making of the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority Board. Advisory Groups are none decision making and there is no provision for attendance by the press and public.

7. Transport Advisory Group, the source of funding for the executive support to the group (this is not evident from the budget provided to the CCA board last week)

Officer support for the Transport Advisory Group will be provided from within the existing resources of the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority, Devon County Council and Torbay Council.