Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant submitted six separate information requests to Dorset County Council over a period of three weeks. The Council refused the requests under section 14(1) of the Act because it considered the requests vexatious. The Commissioner finds that two of the requests were for environmental information and therefore should have been dealt with under the EIR. The Commissioner finds that the requests under the Act were vexatious. However, having examined the requests falling for consideration under the EIR, he has concluded that they were not manifestly unreasonable under regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR. The Council breached regulation 14(3)(a) of the EIR by failing to issue a valid refusal notice in relation to regulation 12(4)(b) to the requests which fell under the EIR. The Commissioner requires the Council to disclose to the complainant that information which was incorrectly withheld under regulation 12(4)(b) or provide a further refusal notice relying upon another exception. Information Tribunal appeal number EA/2011/0097 dismissed.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 14 - Complaint Not upheld, EIR 12.4.b - Complaint Upheld, EIR 14 - Complaint Upheld