Link for IOC full Decision notice pdf file: London Borough of Tower Hamlets (Local government) [2025] UKICO 341525 (6 June 2025)
The complainant submitted a request to London Borough of Tower Hamlets (the Council) for all communications sent to or from any member of the Council staff (including the Cabinet and Mayor) regarding the establishment of a "Culturally Sensitive Substance Misuse Recovery Centre" at 15 Chandler Street. The Council confirmed that it held information falling within the scope of the request but considered this to be exempt from disclosure on the basis of regulation 12(4)(e) (internal communications). The Commissioner-™s decision is that some of the communications do not fall within the definition of the internal communications and therefore are not exempt from disclosure on the basis of regulation 12(4)(e). The Commissioner accepts that the remaining information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of regulation 12(4)(e) but that the public interest favours disclosure of this information.