The complainant submitted to Torbay Council a request for information in four parts focused on the Council’s decision to change its logo. The Council responded to one part of the request; stated that it did not hold information in relation to two parts of the request; and one part of the request was considered to be vexatious relying on section 14(1) of FOIA; The Commissioner’s decision is that, on the balance of probabilities, the Council was correct when it stated that it held no further information within the scope of the first and the third parts of the request. However, the Commissioner found that the Council failed to demonstrate that the third part of the request is vexatious. Therefore, the Council was not entitled to refuse this part of the request under section 14(1) of the FOIA. The Commissioner requires the Council to issue a fresh response to the third part of the request that does not rely on section 14(1). The Council must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.
FOI 14: Complaint upheld FOI 1: Complaint not upheld
Citations:
[2020] UKICO IC-40513
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 25 October 2022; Ref: scu.657953