Salford City Council

The complainant has requested correspondence between two officers of Sheffield City Council (the council) for specific dates. The council provided some of the information but withheld/ redacted other information relying on section 40(2) of the FOIA. The council, during the Commissioner’s investigations, provided further information that it had previously withheld/ redacted but maintained that the remaining is exempt under section 40(2) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council has correctly relied on section 40(2) of the FOIA to withhold/ redact this remaining information and fulfilled its obligation under section 1. However, the Commissioner has also found that the council has breached section 10(1) of the FOIA, as it did not provide all of the information which was not exempt within the required 20 working days following receipt of the request. The Commissioner does not require the council to take any steps.