London Borough of Hounslow

The complainant requested information from the London Borough of Hounslow (“the council”) regarding council plans to deal with the problem of dwellings in gardens. The council withheld the information using section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the FOIA”), the exemption relating to prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs. However during the Commissioner’s investigation the council decided that it was able to disclose the information because of the passage of time. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council breached section 10(1) of the FOIA because of the late response. The Commissioner does not require any steps to be taken.