Kirklees Metropolitan Council

The complainant has requested information from Kirklees Council which concerns remarks made by a councillor at a public meeting, where the Councillor is alleged to have said that the complainant had cost the Council £38,000. The Council corrected the amount referred to by the complainant in his request and it provided him with a schedule of its calculation of how a figure of £11,000 was arrived at. The Council made some redactions from the schedule disclosed to the complainant by virtue of its application of section 40(2) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that Kirklees Council has correctly applied the provisions of section 40(2) to information it withheld from the complainant. The Commissioner has also decided that the Council has breached section 10 of the FOIA for failing to respond to the complainant’s request within the required twenty working day compliance period.