Sunderland City Council

The complainant requested information from Sunderland City Council (the Council) about salary spend within the Council. The Council refused to provide the requested information, citing section 12(1) (cost of compliance) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council has provided a reasonable estimate of the costs associated with complying with the request and has therefore correctly applied section 12 of the FOIA. However, the Commissioner considers that the Council has not complied with its obligations under section 16 of the FOIA to provide the complainant with reasonable advice and assistance. The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: provide the complainant with advice and assistance to allow him, if it is possible to do so, to formulate a request seeking information about salary spend within the Council which can be answered within the appropriate cost limit.