Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

The complainant asked the Department for Communities and Local Government – now the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (“the MHCLG”), for an electronic copy of all the information contained in the Department’s file associated with his PROD / Right to Contest application, referenced NPCU/PROD/N5090/7637. The MHCLG provided the complainant with some of the contents of that file, but redacted certain pieces of information in reliance on Regulations 13 and 12(4)(e) of the EIR. The complainant has not contested the MHCLG’s application of Regulation 13 in respect of the personal data of the Department’s and Barnet Council’s junior officers: He has complained about the MHCLG’s application of Regulation 12(4)(e) to withhold certain pieces of information and also about documents which are apparently missing from the information which was disclosed to him. The Commissioner’s decision is that the MHCLG has complied with the provisions of Regulation 5(1) of the EIR by providing the complainant with all of the information it holds, other than the information which is subject to the exceptions provided by Regulations 13 and 12(4)(e). The Commissioner has decided that the MHCLG has correctly applied Regulation 12(4)(e) to three pieces of information it has withheld from the complainant and also that the Department has contravened Regulation 5(2) by failing to provide the information it disclosed to the complainant within the twenty day compliance period required by the EIR. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2018/0255 allowed.