Worcester City Council
- Date 8 March 2018
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) EIR 12.5.e: Not upheld, EIR 14.2: Upheld, EIR 14.3.a: Upheld, EIR 5.1: Upheld, EIR 5.2: Upheld
The complainant requested information from Worcester City Council (“the council”) relating to its attempts to seek a site for Worcester City Football Club to build a stadium in 2016. The council said that all of the information was exempt under section 41 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the FOIA”). This exemption relates to information provided in confidence. The Commissioner asked the council to reconsider the request under the terms of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (“the EIR”). The council relied on the exception under regulation 12(5)(e). This exception relates to commercial confidentiality. It said that the public interest favoured maintaining the exception. The Commissioner’s decision is that insufficient evidence was presented to support the use of the exception. The council also identified that some information was not held. The Commissioner has found breaches of regulations 5(1), 5(2), 14(3)(a) and 14(2) of the EIR. She requires the council to provide a refusal notice to the complainant relying on regulation 12(4)(a) and to disclose the information that was held within 35 days.