Information Commissioner's Office

Northamptonshire County Council

11 May 2017, Local government (County council)

The complainant has requested information with regards to a complaint he made about Northamptonshire County Council (the council) relating to a family member. The council responded that the information requested was not held. The Commissioner’s decision is that the information was not held for part 4 of the request and that for part 3 of the request, the information was not held at the time the request was made. However during the Commissioner’s investigations, she found that information at part 3 of the request became available after the request was made, but prior to the internal review being carried out by the council. This information being the invoice from the investigator showing how much he charged. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Either provide the complaint with the information requested at part 3 of his request or issue a valid refusal notice in accordance with the FOIA. 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.

FOI 1: Partly upheld