24 February 2015, Local government (Town council)
The complainant has requested a copy of a letter of resignation from Lymington and Pennington Town Council’s former finance officer and a copy of the current Town Clerk’s Terms of Employment and Job Description. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council has properly applied section 40(2) of the FOIA to the letter of resignation it received from its former finance officer and it is entitled to withhold this. The Commissioner has also decided that the Council unable to rely on section 40(2) of the FOIA to withhold the terms of employment and job description of its now-former Town Clerk. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: The Council must disclose to the complainant copies of the terms of employment and job description of its now-former Town Clerk. The Council may redact the signature of its former employee.
FOI 40: Partly upheld