Halton Borough Council

The complainant requested the names of the 20 landlords (excluding housing associations) whose tenants collectively received the largest amounts of housing benefit from Halton Borough Council (the Council) in the last financial year 2012/13. He also sought the names of the corporate landlords on the list. The Council provided him with an anonymised list of the 20 landlords but refused to provide the names of the corporate landlords on the basis of sections 40 (personal data) and 41 (information provided in confidence) of FOIA. The Commissioner has concluded that the names of the corporate landlords are not exempt from disclosure on the basis of sections 40 and 41. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Provide the complainant with a version of the top 20 list of landlords he requested with the names of the 11 corporate landlords unredacted. (The landlords which the Commissioner considers to be ‘corporate’ in nature are identified in the email the Commissioner sent to the Council on 11 February 2014).