Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested information about who was liable to cover the full cost of the legal challenge to an application to register the playing fields of a former school as a town or village green. He asked five questions about this matter. He wanted a breakdown of the liability, the share of which the public authority was liable, who took the decision, the limits of the costs and a copy of the authorisation sent to the lawyers involved. The public authority provided an answer to the request. It also clarified its position at its internal review. The complainant explained that he remained dissatisfied with two aspects. The Commissioner has considered those two aspects and has determined that the Information was Environmental Information and should have been considered from the outset under the Environmental Information Regulations. He has determined that the exception in 12(4)(a) applies to these two aspects because the requested information is not held by it for the purposes of the Regulations. However he has noted a number of breaches in this case. He has determined that Regulations 9(1), 11(4), and 14(1) were all contravened in this instance. He requires no further remedial steps to be taken in this case.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: EIR 5 - Complaint Not upheld, EIR 9 - Complaint Upheld, EIR 11 - Complaint Upheld, EIR 12.4.a - Complaint Not upheld, EIR 14 - Complaint Upheld, EIR 14 - Complaint Upheld, EIR 14 - Complaint Upheld, EIR 14 - Complaint Upheld