Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant made a request for information held by Newport City Council (the -�Council-�) relating to various projects and initiatives. The Council stated that to comply with the request would exceed the appropriate cost limit and refused the request on the basis that section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the -�Act-�) was engaged. During the course of the Information Commissioner-�s (the -�Commissioner-�) investigation it became clear that some of the relevant information held by the Council was likely to be environmental information but had not been treated as such. The Council claimed that, where information could be considered to be environmental information, the request was manifestly unreasonable under regulation 12(4)(b) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (the -�EIR-�). The Council also stated that it did not hold some of the requested information. The information provided to the Commissioner has not been sufficient for him to conclude that its application of section 12(1) the Act or regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR was appropriate.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 12 - Complaint Upheld, EIR 12.4.b - Complaint Upheld