Information Commissioner's Office

Wiltshire Council

19 March 2015, Local government (Unitary council)

The complainant has requested correspondence between the Council and a number of named parties relating to a particular planning application. The Council applied regulation 12(5)(e) – commercial confidentiality, to a financial report. At the internal review stage the Council realised that it held additional information falling within the scope of the request. However it went on to apply regulation 12(4)(b) – manifestly unreasonable, to this information on the basis that locating and retrieving the additional information would place an unreasonable burden on the Council. During the Commissioner’s investigation the Council extended its application of regulation 12(4)(b) to the entire request arguing that it was manifestly unreasonable on the basis of both the time it would take to find the information and on the basis that the request was vexatious. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council has failed to demonstrate that regulation 12(5)(e) is engaged. Nor is the Commissioner satisfied that the request can be refused under regulation 12(4)(b) on the grounds that it is vexatious. However the Commissioner is satisfied that the burden of complying with the request in terms of the time involved does render it manifestly unreasonable. The Commissioner also finds that the Council failed to provide adequate advice and assistance under regulation 9 and that it failed to respond to the request within the 20 working days and so breached regualtion14(2). The Commissioner requires the public authority to provide advice and assistance under regulation 9, aimed at helping the complainant make a refined request.

EIR 9: Upheld EIR 12(5)(b): Partly upheld EIR 12(5)(e): Upheld EIR 14: Upheld