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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Information Commissioner's Office >> South Gloucestershire Council (Local government) [2021] UKICO IC-58565 (14 October 2021)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKICO/2021/ic-58565.html
Cite as: [2021] UKICO IC-58565
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South Gloucestershire Council
The complainant has requested information about housing allocation decisions made in the West of England (WoE) Joint Spatial Plan (JSP). South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) initially refused the request under regulations 12(4)(d) (Material still in the course of completion) and 12(4)(e) (Internal communications) of the EIR. It later revised its interpretation of the request. It stated that a lot of the information it had previously considered, now fell outside of the scope of the request. It disclosed a series of documents which it considered gave the complainant a clear understanding of why its housing allocation decisions were correctly arrived at. The Commissioner’s decision is that when revising its interpretation of the request, SGC failed to read the request objectively. It also failed to undertake adequate searches for information. In doing so, it failed to identify all the information it held falling within the scope of the request. These are breaches of regulation 5(1) of the EIR. By failing to disclose information within 20 working days of the request, SGC breached regulation 5(2) (time for compliance) of the EIR. By failing to conclude the internal review within 40 working days, it breached regulation 11(4) of the EIR. The Commissioner requires SGC to issue a fresh response to the request. SGC should interpret the request to be for any and all recorded information it holds (including, meeting minutes, emails, briefings, notes and other correspondence) on precisely how the allocation of 32,500 homes to SGC was arrived at and agreed between the participants of the JSP.EIR 11(4): Complaint upheld EIR 5(1): Complaint upheld EIR 5(2): Complaint upheld
Decision notice: IC-58565