Norwich City Council

The complainant requested information relation to a tendering procedure for the development at Threescore in Bowthorpe. This request was refused under section 14(1) as the request was considered vexatious. The Commissioner’s decision is that Norwich City Council (‘the Council’) should have handled the request under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (‘the EIR’) as opposed to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘the Act’). The Commissioner has also concluded that the request was not manifestly unreasonable. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: disclose the information to the complainant in accordance with regulation 5 of the EIR; or issue a valid refusal notice explaining the reasons why it will not disclose this information in accordance with regulation 14 of the EIR.