Information Commissioner's Office

Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council

19 June 2007, Local government (Borough council)

The complainant requested information relating to the surfaces of lanes throughout the local authority area and information relating to the operation of the Land Drainage Act. In terms of the former, the public authority responded by stating that some of the information requested is not held by the authority, and that to provide the information that is held would exceed the appropriate limit. Following his investigation, the Commissioner has decided that the information requested is not held by the public authority. In terms of the information relating to the operation of the Land Drainage Act, the only information held by the public authority is a copy of that Act, and the request was refused by virtue of the exemption at section 21 of the FOI Act, because copies of Acts of Parliament are accessible to the applicant either on the internet or via Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. The Commissioner has decided that this is a request for environmental information and the public authority should therefore have dealt with the request under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. As there is no equivalent of section 21 of the Act in the regulations, the Commissioner requires the public authority to provide the complainant with the information it holds in relation to the second request. An appeal was made to the Information Tribunal, who have ruled that the appeal should be allowed and the decision overturned.

FOI 1: Upheld