Information Commissioner's Office

Halton Borough Council

3 December 2008, Local government (Borough council)

The complainant made a request for information to Halton Borough Council (the “Council”) on 6 June 2006. The request was refused under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the “Act”) on the grounds that the information was protected by legal professional privilege, that the Council’s commercial interests would be harmed by the disclosure of the information, and that the information was likely to be published at a public inquiry. The internal review into the handling of the request upheld the Council’s decision to withhold the requested information. The Commissioner reviewed the withheld information and decided that the request should have been properly considered under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (the “EIR”). During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation, the Council disclosed or agreed to disclose much of the information requested, however at the date of this Decision Notice the Council remains of the view that five of the documents relevant to the request are exempt from disclosure under regulation 12(5)(b) of the EIR. The Commissioner’s decision is that the information is not exempt and should be disclosed to the complainant. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2009/0001 allowed.

EIR 5: Upheld EIR 5: Upheld EIR 14: Upheld