Information Commissioner's Office

Stockton on Tees Borough Council

3 January 2007, Local government (Borough council)

The complainant requested a copy of a notice published on the Council’s electronic notice board, which allegedly made critical comments about one of the companies of which he is Director. In addition, the complainant requested the name of the author of the notice, and details of any action taken against the author by the Council. The Council responded that the information was not held. The complainant believed the notice would have been saved to the Council’s back up tapes. As the Council and the complainant could not agree upon which date they believed the notice had been posted, the Commissioner asked the Council to search a number of its back up tapes for the requested information. The Council then confirmed to the Commissioner that the contents of the back up tapes had been deleted. The Commissioner is satisfied that the information is no longer held by the Council; and that it is more likely than not that the information was not held at the time of the request. The Commissioner does not therefore require any further steps to be taken by the Council.

FOI 1: Not upheld