The complainant requested information from the City of Westminster Council for 13 sets of information for each of 4 year groups for 7 academic years relating to 2 schools. The council refused to provide this as, when aggregated with requests from others acting together, compliance would exceed the appropriate cost limit. The Commissioner has investigated and found that the council were not obliged to comply with the request by virtue of section 12(1). The Commissioner also found that the council breached the requirements of section 17(5) for not issuing the refusal notice within the statutory timeframe and for not explicitly stating that it was relying on section 12. The Commissioner also found a breach of section 16(1) and requires the council to contact the complainant in order to refine his request in line with its duty under section 16 to provide advice and assistance.
Section of Act/EIR and Finding: FOI 12 – Complaint Not upheld, FOI 16 – Complaint Upheld, FOI 17 – Complaint Upheld
Citations:
[2009] UKICO FS50197355
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 07 April 2022; Ref: scu.532081