Darlington Borough Council

The complainant has requested information from Darlington Borough Council (the council) about an alleged fraud within the plumbing and heating department. The council initially refused to confirm or deny whether it held any of the requested information under section 31(3) and section 40(5) of the FOIA as it considered that doing so would be likely to prejudice the apprehension and prosecution of an offender and it would be personal data. At internal review it later relied on section 40(2) for a small amount of the requested information. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council was correct to rely on section 31(3) to neither confirm nor deny that it held the majority of the requested information. It was also correct to rely on section 40(2) to withhold a small amount of information. The Commissioner does not require the council to take any steps.