London Borough of Havering (Local government) [2024] UKICO 234123 (10 April 2024)
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London Borough of Havering
The complainant has requested information concerning an area of land known as Arnold’s Fields in Rainham, East London. London Borough of Havering (the Council) confirmed that they held some information within scope of the request and provided the complainant with some documents but did not specify which of the three parts of his request these related to. In their original response the Council advised that some of the requested information was exempt from disclosure under regulations 12(4)(b)(adversely affect the course of justice), 12(4)(e)(internal communications) and 13(1)(third party personal data) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) but did not explain what information these exceptions were being applied to. At internal review, the Council advised that regulation 12(5)(e)(commercial confidentiality) applied to some of the information held but did not specify such information. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation the Council withdrew their reliance on regulations 12(4)(e) and 12(5)(e) and made clear, through marked up copies of the information held, which particular information was exempt under regulations 12(4)(b) and 13(1). The Council also disclosed further information to the complainant, with redactions for the aforementioned exceptions. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council correctly applied regulations 12(4)(b) and 13(1) to the relevant information and that the public interest balance favours maintaining the exceptions to such information. However, the Commissioner has decided that, on the balance of probabilities, the Council has not identified all the information that it holds within the scope of the complainant’s request. The Council has not conducted adequate searches to determine whether they hold further information beyond that already disclosed to the complainant. The Commissioner has also found that the Council breached regulations 5(2) and 11(4) in their handling of the complainant’s request. The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. • Issue a fresh response to the request, following further, wider and more thorough searches informed by the Commissioner’s findings and observations set out in paragraphs 89-109. The Council must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with …
EIR 13(1):
Complaint not upheld
EIR 11(4):
Complaint upheld
EIR 12(4)(b):
Complaint not upheld
EIR 12(4)(e):
Complaint upheld
EIR 5(2):
Complaint upheld
Decision notice: 234123
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URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKICO/2024/234123.html
