Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

The complainant has requested information from Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (“the council”) about the cost of compromise agreements. The council disclosed information under the Freedom of Information Act (“the FOIA”). The complainant contested the completeness of this response. The Commissioner’s decision is that the balance of probabilities, further relevant information is likely to be held. The council has also breached the requirement of section 10(1) by failing to respond to the request within 20 working days. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Undertake a fresh search for information that falls within part 4 of the request and issue a fresh response to part 4 of the request that complies with the duty under section 1(1), or if necessary issue a valid refusal notice under section 17(1).The public authority must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.