Information Commissioner's Office

Bridgend County Borough Council

16 October 2017, Local government (Borough council)

The complainant has requested information from Bridgend County Borough Council (“the Council”) relating to the Porthcawl Regeneration Area. The Council provided the complainant with some of the information requested but refused to provide the remainder, citing sections 43(2) (commercial interests) and s42(1) (legal professional privilege) of the FOIA as the basis for its refusal. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation it was agreed that the request should be handled under the EIR and the corresponding provisions under EIR applied -Regulation 12(5)(e) (confidentiality of commercial or industrial information) and 12(5)(b) (course of justice). The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council has failed to demonstrate that Regulations 12(5)(e) and 12(5)(b) are engaged and so was not entitled to rely upon these exceptions to withhold the information redacted from the disclosed documents. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Provide the complainant with an unredacted copy of the Owners Agreement. The public authority must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.

EIR 12(5)(b): Upheld EIR 12(5)(e): Upheld