Crawley Borough Council

The complainant has requested the Council’s legal advice on the enforcement of planning legislation in respect of a sports centre, together with the correspondence seeking that advice. Crawley Borough Council originally withheld the information under section 42 of the FOIA – legal professional privilege. Upon examining the information the Commissioner decided that the request should have been dealt with under the EIR. The Council then applied the exception provided by regulation 12(5)(b) of the EIR – adverse effect to the course of justice. The Commissioner’s decision is that Crawley Borough Council was entitled to rely on regulation 12(5)(b) to withhold the information. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any further action in this matter.