Link for IOC full Decision notice pdf file: Cotswold District Council (Local government) [2025] UKICO 339030 (6 March 2025)
The complainant requested a copy of a Renewable Energy Study. Cotswold District Council (the "Council") withheld the information under the exemption for information intended for future publication (section 22 of the FOIA). During the Commissioner's investigation the Council reconsidered the request under the EIR and withheld the information under the exceptions for Material in the course of completion (regulation 12(4)(d)). The Commissioner's decision is that the Council correctly withheld the information under regulation 12(4)(d) but that it failed to issue a refusal notice in time and breached regulation 14(2). The Commissioner does not require further steps.