Halton Borough Council

The complainant requested information about the number of individuals resettled within a particular geographical area of Halton under the Syrian Vulnerable Person’s Refugee Resettlement Scheme and about the decision to participate in that scheme. The Commissioner’s decision is that Halton Borough Council has provided the information within the scope of one part of the request. In respect of the other part of the request, she finds that neither Section 40(2) (Third Party Personal Data) nor Section 38 of the FOIA (Health and Safety) is engaged and therefore the Council is not entitled to rely on either exemption. In addition, she also finds that the Council issued a refusal notice which was both inadequate and provided outside the statutory time period for responding. It thus breached Sections 17 and 10 of the FOIA respectively. The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: Disclose, to the complainant, the information it has withheld within the scope of part [2] of the request.