Essex County Council
- Date 8 October 2013
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) EIR 12.4.b: Not upheld
The complainant has requested information from Essex County Council (“the council”) about chilli powder that was found to be contaminated with the illegal food colour ‘Sudan 1’. The council refused the complainant’s request citing section 14(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the FOIA”). This exclusion relates to vexatious requests. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council has correctly refused the request as vexatious. However, the Commissioner identified that the refusal should have relied upon regulation 12(4)(b) of the Environmental Information Regulations (“the EIR”), which provides an exception for manifestly unreasonable requests. He requires no steps to be taken by the council.