Sheffield City Council

The complainant has requested information from Sheffield City Council (the “Council”) relating to a Town and Country Planning Act (“TCPA”) section 106 agreement. The Council, handling this as an FOIA request, provided some information but withheld the remainder citing the exemptions at FOIA section 43 (commercial interests) and FOIA section 40 (unfair disclosure of personal data) as its basis for doing so. It upheld this at internal review. It also said that it did not hold the name of the developer relating to this TCPA section 106 agreement. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council should have treated this matter as an EIR request but that the Council is entitled to rely on regulation 12(5)(e) and regulation 13 as its basis for not disclosing the information within the scope of the request which remains withheld. She is also satisfied that the Council does not hold the name of the developer in question. No steps are required. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2016/0289 dismissed.