Local Government Ombudsman

The complainant has requested information about his complaint about a particular planning matter.  The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has withheld some information under section 44(1)(a) of the FOIA (prohibitions on disclosure).  It considers that section 40(2) (third person personal data) and section 42 (legal professional privilege) would also apply to this information.  The LGO has withheld other information under regulation 12(5)(d) (confidentiality of proceedings). The Commissioner’s decision is that the LGO has correctly applied section 44(1)(a) to some of the information it is withholding.   The Commissioner is satisfied that the remainder of the withheld information engages regulation 12(5)(d) of the EIR and that the public interest favours maintaining this exception. The Commissioner does not require the LGO to take any steps.