Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested information relating to a particular development. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets (-�the Council-�) refused to provide any information citing section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (-�the FOIA-�). The Information Commissioner (-�the Commissioner-�) decided that the Council should have handled the requests under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (-�the EIR-�). In relation to request 1, the Council refused to accept that the complainant-�s interpretation of the request was objectively reasonable however the Commissioner disagreed. Regarding request 2, the Council stated that it wished to withhold information but it did not cite exceptions or provide adequate supporting arguments. The Commissioner also decided that it was likely that further information was held on the Council-�s behalf by a consultant. Regarding request 3, the Commissioner determined that information relating to request 2 also fell within the scope of request 3. In addition, the Commissioner found that some other information was held by the Council and this information was not excepted under regulation 12(4)(d). He also found that further information was held on its behalf by an external company and this information was not excepted under regulation 12(4)(e) or 12(4)(d). Further, he was not satisfied that no other relevant information was held on the Council-�s behalf by the external company. The Commissioner found that the Council breached regulations 5(1), 5(2), 14(2) and 14(3). He has ordered steps in relation to all of the requests.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: EIR 5 - Complaint Upheld, EIR 5 - Complaint Upheld, EIR 12.4.d - Complaint Upheld, EIR 12.4.e - Complaint Upheld, EIR 14 - Complaint Upheld, EIR 14 - Complaint Upheld