West Sussex County Council

The complainant has made a number of requests for CON29 information in respect of various named properties. The council has refused to provide the information requested on the basis that to do so would be “manifestly unreasonable” as per regulation 12(4)(b). The council also indicated that it would typically charge £15 per request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council has correctly applied regulation 12(4)(b), but has breached regulation 8(3) by proposing to levy an unreasonable charge. In addition, he has found that the council has failed to comply with regulation 9(1) by not clarifying with the complainant the form or format in which the information was being sought. The Commissioner requires the public authority to discuss with the complainant whether inspection as a format is still desired and, if so, consider whether it would be reasonable for it to provide the information in that format under regulation 6(1).