Information Commissioner's Office

South Downs Waste Services Ltd

18 March 2008, Education (Other)

The complainant wrote to both Veolia ES South Downs Ltd and South Downs Waste Services Ltd to request information regarding a Best Practice Environmental Option assessment in respect of the East Sussex and Brighton & Hove Integrated Waste Management Contract. Both companies refused the request on the grounds that they are not obliged to comply with requests for information under the Environmental Information Regulations. The Commissioner has considered this matter and is satisfied that South Downs Waste Services Ltd constitutes a public authority for the purposes of EIR and that by failing to comply with the request it breached regulation 5(1). During the course of his investigation South Downs Waste Services Ltd disclosed a copy of a document entitled “Initial Qualitative BPEO Appraisal of the Onyx Aurora Proposals & Scoping Exercise for Detailed Quantitative BPEO” and the Commissioner is satisfied that it holds no further information falling within the scope of the request. The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken. (N.B. Throughout this Decision Notice there are references to Veolia ES South Downs Ltd, Veolia Environmental Services Plc and South Downs Waste Services Ltd, these are all part of the Veolia group of companies. For the avoidance of any doubt, the Commissioner believes that EIR apply to South Downs Waste Services Ltd. Where references are made to contact with Veolia ES South Downs Ltd the Commissioner considers this company to be acting on behalf of South Downs Waste Services Ltd for the purpose of dealing with this complaint.)

EIR 5: Upheld