Ladywood Police Station (FOI ref: 1959/26)
Request
I am making a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 concerning the disposal of the former Ladywood Police Station, which the PCC’s premises and land register records as sold to Zayma Limited on 30 June 2025.
I am aware that FOI-26, “Former Ladywood Police Station – communications records”, has been published. This request is intended to identify information not already disclosed in FOI-26.
Please provide the following recorded information for the period 1 June 2024 to 30 June 2025:
The names, job titles and organisations of all persons who participated in any meeting concerning the disposal of Ladywood Police Station, including meetings attended by telephone, video conference or in person.
The dates, times and locations of those meetings.
Copies of agendas, minutes, notes, action points, briefing documents or other records created in connection with those meetings.
Any records concerning a meeting described in any previous FOI response or correspondence as a “non-recorded meeting”, including any subsequent note, email, diary entry or explanation of who attended and what was discussed.
Copies of any conflict-of-interest declarations, declarations of interests, recusals, internal conflict checks or equivalent assessments undertaken in connection with the disposal.
Any recorded correspondence between the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and:
a. Zayma Limited;
b. MIA Property Group;
c. Maqbool Ahmed;
d. Zahir Ahmed;
e. any company controlled by Maqbool Ahmed or Zahir Ahmed;
f. any political party, elected politician, political adviser or political campaign organisation concerning the disposal.
Any records concerning representations made by elected politicians, political parties or political organisations regarding the disposal, including representations made on behalf of or concerning the prospective purchaser.
Any records identifying when the PCC or officers of the OPCC first became aware of any political donations made by persons or companies connected with the prospective purchaser.
Any recorded information concerning whether the political donations were considered in any conflict-of-interest, governance or ethical assessment relating to the disposal.
Copies of the final valuation, marketing report, bid evaluation, bid comparison, recommendation to approve the sale and decision record, insofar as these have not already been published.
The number of bids received, the amounts of those bids, and whether each bid was conditional or unconditional.
Any recorded explanation for the statement that the successful purchaser submitted the highest unconditional bid.
Any correspondence concerning the exchange of contracts reportedly occurring on or around 19 February 2025, including records showing the date on which contracts were exchanged.
Any records concerning the decision to approve the disposal in November 2024, including the date of approval, the person(s) who approved it and the information supplied to the decision-maker.
Any records concerning gifts, hospitality, invitations or social events involving the PCC, OPCC staff and persons connected with the purchaser between June 2024 and June 2025 where the event or contact was connected in any way with the purchaser, the disposal or political activity.
For clarity, I am requesting recorded information rather than explanations or newly created analysis.
Where information has already been disclosed under FOI-26 or another published FOI, please identify the relevant FOI reference rather than reproducing it.
If any information is withheld, please identify the specific exemption relied upon and provide the information that can reasonably be disclosed after redaction.
If the request exceeds the appropriate cost limit, please advise which parts would need to be narrowed so that a compliant request can be made.
We contacted you on 02/09/2026 to clarify the following:
Where you have stated the following: “I am aware that FOI-26, “Former Ladywood Police Station – communications records”, has been published. This request is intended to identify information not already disclosed in FOI-26” - please clarify what document or information you are referring to that has already been published?
You responded on 02/09/2026 with the following:
To clarify, I was referring to the information and/or documents published by your organisation in response to FOI-26, titled “Former Ladywood Police Station – communications records”.
My understanding was that a response to FOI-26 had already been published, and my wording was intended to distinguish my request from any information already disclosed within that response. I was not referring to any separate document or publication.
If there is no published response or document associated with FOI-26, then please disregard that part of my wording. In that case, my request should simply be considered as seeking the information described in my request, without any exclusion based on FOI-26.
Response
Please find our response below.
Please provide the following recorded information for the period 1 June 2024 to 30 June 2025:
1. The names, job titles and organisations of all persons who participated in any meeting concerning the disposal of Ladywood Police Station, including meetings attended by telephone, video conference or in person.
West Midlands Police does not hold this information.
2. The dates, times and locations of those meetings.
West Midlands Police does not hold this information.
3. Copies of agendas, minutes, notes, action points, briefing documents or other records created in connection with those meetings.
West Midlands Police does not hold this information.
4. Any records concerning a meeting described in any previous FOI response or correspondence as a “non-recorded meeting”, including any subsequent note, email, diary entry or explanation of who attended and what was discussed.
West Midlands Police does not hold this information.
5. Copies of any conflict-of-interest declarations, declarations of interests, recusals, internal conflict checks or equivalent assessments undertaken in connection with the disposal.
All disposals are managed by appointed independent property agents. Therefore, no information is held by West Midlands Police.
6. Any recorded correspondence between the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and:
a. Zayma Limited;
b. MIA Property Group;
c. Maqbool Ahmed;
d. Zahir Ahmed;
e. any company controlled by Maqbool Ahmed or Zahir Ahmed;
f. any political party, elected politician, political adviser or political campaign organisation concerning the disposal.
This question is not applicable to West Midlands Police, therefore no information is held.
You may instead wish to submit a request directly to the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner for this information:
Freedom of Information - West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner
7. Any records concerning representations made by elected politicians, political parties or political organisations regarding the disposal, including representations made on behalf of or concerning the prospective purchaser.
This question is not applicable to West Midlands Police, therefore no information is held.
8. Any records identifying when the PCC or officers of the OPCC first became aware of any political donations made by persons or companies connected with the prospective purchaser.
This question is not applicable to West Midlands Police, therefore no information is held.
You may instead wish to submit a request directly to the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner for this information:
Freedom of Information - West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner
9. Any recorded information concerning whether the political donations were considered in any conflict-of-interest, governance or ethical assessment relating to the disposal.
This question is not applicable to West Midlands Police, therefore no information is held.
You may instead wish to submit a request directly to the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner for this information:
Freedom of Information - West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner
10. Copies of the final valuation, marketing report, bid evaluation, bid comparison, recommendation to approve the sale and decision record, insofar as these have not already been published.
West Midlands Police holds a copy of the recommendation paper for the sale of Ladywood police station. Please find a redacted copy of this attached (‘1959_Attachment_1_redacted’).
11. The number of bids received, the amounts of those bids, and whether each bid was conditional or unconditional.
Please see answer to question 10
12. Any recorded explanation for the statement that the successful purchaser submitted the highest unconditional bid.
Please see answer to question 10
13. Any correspondence concerning the exchange of contracts reportedly occurring on or Around 19 February 2025, including records showing the date on which contracts were exchanged.
The exchange occurred 18 December 2024. Please find attached a redacted copy of the relevant email held by West Midlands Police (‘1959_Attachment_2_redacted’).
14. Any records concerning the decision to approve the disposal in November 2024, including the date of approval, the person(s) who approved it and the information supplied to the decision-maker.
Please see answer to question 10.
The decision from the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner is published on their website at the following link:
Decisions - West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner
You may instead wish to submit a request directly to the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner for this information:
Freedom of Information - West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner
15. Any records concerning gifts, hospitality, invitations or social events involving the PCC, OPCC staff and persons connected with the purchaser between June 2024 and June 2025 where the event or contact was connected in any way with the purchaser, the disposal or political activity.
This question is not applicable to West Midlands Police, therefore no information is held.
You may instead wish to submit a request directly to the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner for this information:
Freedom of Information - West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner
Reasons for decision
The redacted information is exempt by virtue of the following:
Section 40(2) - Personal information
Section 43(2) - Commercial interests
Further guidance about the relevant exemption(s) can be found here:
Freedom of information | College of Policing
The requested documents contain personal data, including names, roles and contact details of force staff and, where applicable, external supplier personnel. Disclosure under FOIA is disclosure to the world at large. In this context, the force does not consider that those individuals would reasonably expect their personal data to be disclosed publicly in response to this request. Disclosure would therefore be unfair and would contravene the data protection principles. This information is therefore exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Section 40(2) is an absolute exemption and does not require a public interest test.
In line with Section 43, I am required to complete a Prejudice Test/Public Interest Test (PIT) on disclosure. Please find this PIT below.
Overall harm:
Section 43(2) exempts information from disclosure where disclosure of that information would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (an individual, a company, the public authority itself or any other legal entity).
In this case, the request captures a recommendation paper regarding the sale of Ladywood police station, which contains the names of third party interested buyers, as well as details regarding their financial position. We consider that the third-party organisations and their own commercial interests would be prejudiced and/or would be likely to be prejudiced by the disclosure of the requested information. This is because the requested information concerns the financial position of these entities and disclosure would not only reveal this detail to the requester, but also to each of the companies that had submitted a bid for the sale of Ladywood police station, and also any other company operating within this market space. This detail would be invaluable to anyone operating within this market space as it would reveal the professional associations and financial decisions of these companies that have otherwise chosen to not make this public knowledge.
Public Interest Test
S43 - Factors favouring disclosure:
Disclosure of this information would promote accountability and transparency for the decisions made by West Midlands Police and the organisations that the force collaborates with, which would allow for more user involvement and collaborative decision making.
It is important that West Midlands Police are held accountable for any financial decisions that are made. Disclosing this information would provide a greater transparency in the financial affairs of West Midlands Police.
S43 - Factors favouring non-disclosure:
In the case of this specific FOI request, information is being sought concerning the evaluation and recommendation of the bids submitted for the sale of Ladywood police station. Releasing information contained within this document, such the names of those companies that have submitted bids, along with identifiable information about their company and details of their financial position would be a competitive advantage for other companies. This information concerns the financial affairs of these organisations, which has been shared with West Midlands Police in confidence. Therefore, they would have had no reasonable expectation that these details would subsequently be made publicly available under FOI legislation. Disclosing this information would reveal details about these companies and their commercial activities and acquisition interests; details that they may have chosen not to make publicly known. Therefore, this would allow competitors, property owners or agents, or other parties with whom those companies may negotiate with in the future, to draw conclusions about their approach to acquisitions to be made, including the level at which they were prepared to bid. This would put them in a weakened position in a competitive environment because if an organisation has insight into their expenditure, it can be exploited for commercial gain.
With this in mind, disclosure would undermine the trust and confidence that these companies have placed in the force, as they would have no reasonable expectation that this detail is provided in response to a FOI request. It is therefore likely to damage the relationship between West Midlands Police and the companies involved. This may in the future reduce the number of organisations willing to engage and collaborate with West Midlands Police in the future, and potentially affect any future bidding or tendering opportunities, for the reasons outlined above.
Balancing test
For a public interest test, issues that favour release need to be measured against issues that favour non-disclosure. The public interest is not what interests the public, or a particular individual, but what will be the greater good, if released, to the community as a whole.
The issues supporting disclosure have been considered however, this needs to be weighed against the damage caused to the organisations captured by this FOI request and West Midlands Police’s business reputation or confidence in which it is held by those organisations. The information, if placed into the public domain would place these companies in a weakened position and would cause harm to them in any future financial exercises. It is in the public interest to ensure that companies are able to collaborate and operate fairly with public sectors, especially where financial decisions are involved.
In addition, West Midlands Police wants to maintain the trust and confidence that it has with partners and suppliers, in doing so this ensures the quality of any services provided and that future endeavours are adequately supported and successful.
On balance, we consider that the public interest test does not favour disclosure of all the requested information.
Attachments