North Lincolnshire Council

The complainant has requested information relating to the potential use of land at Ferriby Road, colloquially known as Top Field. North Lincolnshire Council disclosed some information and withheld other information under the exemption for commercial interests – section 43(2) of the FOIA. Following the Commissioner’s involvement the council disclosed further information and reconsidered the request under the EIR, withholding information under the exceptions for material in the course of completion (regulation 12(4)(d)) and commercial confidentiality (regulation 12(5)(e)). The Commissioner’s decision is that North Lincolnshire Council wrongly handled the request under the FOIA and breached regulation 5(1) and regulation 14(1) of the EIR, failed to demonstrate that the public interest in maintaining regulation 12(4)(d) outweighed the public interest in disclosure and failed to demonstrate that regulation 12(5)(e) was engaged. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2018/0107 disposed of by consent order.