Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant has asked Lancashire County Council for details of prosecutions of traders for selling alcohol to children following investigations by the Council's trading standards officers. Disclosure of the information was refused by the Council under section 40 on the grounds that it contained personal information about those prosecuted. The Commissioner examined the information and considered the disclosure in anonymised form would not breach the data protection principles. He decided therefore that the withheld information should be released. The Commissioner required that a caveat be attached to the released information indicating that different businesses may now be trading from the addresses listed and that some individuals who had been prosecuted may no longer be associated with the premises in question. Information Tribunal has ruled on this decision and has upheld the appeal.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 40 - Complaint Upheld