Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant has requested correspondence between individuals on Great Chart with Singleton Parish Council and the Chief Executive of Ashford Borough Council regarding parish council elections. The council applied section 36(2) to the information and withheld it from disclosure. During the course of the Commissioner's investigation the council also raised a further argument. It stated that the chief executive was at the time of the emails corresponding in his role as a statutory returning officer. It argued that when carrying out this role he is not acting as a council officer and that the role is not considered to be that of a public authority for the purposes of the Act. It therefore argued that some of the information in its possession was not held by the council for the purposes of the Act. The Commissioner's decision is that the majority of the information is held by the council in respect of the support it provided the chief executive in his role as returning officer. However he considers that the council also holds that information and other information for its own purposes and so all this information is subject to the Act. He has however decided that all of the information is exempt under section 36(2)(b)(i). This decision notice is currently under appeal to the Information Tribunal.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 36 - Complaint Not upheld