The complainant submitted a request to the London Borough of Lewisham (the Council) seeking a copy of a report about a proposed housing development. The Council provided the complainant with a copy of the report but redacted certain parts of it on the basis of section 43(2) (commercial interests) of FOIA. The Council subsequently disclosed a less redacted version of the report to the complainant and adopted the position that the remaining redactions were exempt on the basis of regulation 12(5)(e) of the EIR. The Commissioner has concluded that the remaining redactions are exempt from disclosure on the basis of regulation 12(5)(e) and that in all the circumstances of the request the public interest favours maintaining the exception. However, the Commissioner has also concluded that the Council breached regulation 5(2) of EIR by not responding to the request in 20 working days and by belatedly disclosing parts of the requested information.
EIR 5(2): Complaint upheld EIR 12(5)(e): Complaint not upheld
Citations:
[2021] UKICO ic-46840
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 06 November 2022; Ref: scu.669326
