The complainant requested legal advice which the council sought following complaints to it from residents about the activities of a church. Residents consider that the activities being carried out by the church are in breach of planning restrictions placed on its planning approval. The council confirmed that it had sought legal advice and that it had previously provided the complainant with a summary of that advice but said that the full advice was covered by legal professional privilege and applied Regulation 12(5)(b)(course of justice). The Commissioner’s decision is that the council was not correct to apply Regulation 12(5)(b). The summary of the advice initially provided to the complainant effectively meant that the advice could no longer be considered to be confidential and therefore privilege could no longer be applied and a disclosure of the information could not have had an adverse effect. The council was therefore not correct to apply the exception. The Commissioner has also decided that the council breached Regulation 11(4) in that it did not carry out a review of its decision and provide its response to the complainant within 40 working days. The Commissioner requires the public authority to disclose the withheld information to the complainant.
Section of Act/EIR and Finding: EIR 11 – Complaint Upheld, EIR 12.5.b – Complaint Upheld
Citations:
[2013] UKICO FER0494389
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 25 October 2022; Ref: scu.528899
