The complainant submitted a 4 part request regarding South Somerset councillors non-payment of council tax. South Somerset District Council (the Council) refused part 1 of the request as it considered it would exceed the cost limit under section 12(1) of FOIA. It also considered section 40(2) would provide a basis for withholding some of the information at the remaining parts of the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council has correctly applied section 12 of FOIA to refuse to comply with part one of the request. Because of this, section 12 of FOIA also applies to the rest of the request by default, as if the cost to comply with part one alone exceeds the appropriate limit, then the cost to comply with the request in its entirety will further exceed the appropriate limit. He has therefore not gone on to consider the application of section 40(2). However, the Council has breached section 16 as it failed to provide advice and assistance to the complainant in relation to part one of the request. The Commissioner also finds that the Council has breached section 10(1) of FOIA by failing to provide a valid response to the request within 20 working days. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: Provide advice and assistance to the complainant to assist them in submitting a refined request.
FOI 16: Complaint upheld FOI 12: Complaint not upheld FOI 10(1): Complaint upheld
Citations:
[2022] UKICO ic-113392, [2022] UKICO 113392
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 18 August 2022; Ref: scu.679478