Information Commissioner's Office

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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Information Commissioner's Office >> St Helens Borough Council (Local government) [2024] UKICO 260392 (8 January 2024)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKICO/2024/260392.html
Cite as: [2024] UKICO 260392

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St Helens Borough Council

The complainant has asked a series of questions about St Helens Borough Council’s (‘the Council’) decisions regarding a planning application. The Council responded with general explanations, but these responses did not provide the information that had actually been requested. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council did not deal with the request in accordance with regulation 5(1) of the EIR. He also finds that the Council breached regulation 5(2) of the EIR, by failing to comply with regulation 5(1) within 20 working days. Furthermore, by taking 56 working days to provide the outcome of the internal review, it breached regulation 11(4) of the EIR. It also issued a refusal notice which did not comply with regulations 14(2) (timeliness of refusal notice) and (3) (reasons for refusal) of the EIR. The Commissioner requires the Council to issue a fresh response to parts (1) – (5) of the request, which complies with regulation 5(1) of the EIR, ensuring that all information held by the Council which falls within scope has been identified and considered for disclosure. If any of the requested information is to be withheld, or is not held, the Council must issue a refusal notice which complies with regulation 14 of the EIR, citing valid exceptions for refusing to disclose the information.

EIR 11(4): Complaint upheld EIR 5(1): Complaint upheld EIR 5(2): Complaint upheld EIR 14(3): Complaint upheld EIR 14(2): Complaint upheld

Decision notice: 260392