The complainant has asked Belfast City Council for copies of emails and correspondence sent between Councillor Lee Reynolds and Mr Richard Cook, which are held on the Council’s email server. In particular, the complainant asked the Council for copies of emails which concern ‘Vote Leave’, ‘Constitutional Research Council’ and ‘CRC’. The Council confirmed that it holds some emails falling within the first part of the complainant’s request and also that it does not hold any emails which meet the terms the complainant specified. The Council informed the Commissioner that it now seeks to withhold the emails it holds in reliance on sections 3(2), 40(2), 41, 43, and 44 of the FOIA. The Commissioner has decided that Belfast City Council is not able to rely on section 3(2) of the FOIA in respect of the emails it holds. She finds that the Council holds those emails for its own purpose, at least in part. The Commissioner has also decided that the Council has properly applied the exemption provided by section 43(2) of the FOIA to the emails it holds.
FOI 43: Complaint not upheld
[2019] UKICO fs50779007
Bailii
England and Wales
Updated: 11 August 2021; Ref: scu.639135 br>