Gosport Borough Council
- Date 29 November 2018
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) EIR 12.5.b: Not upheld, EIR 14.1: Not upheld, EIR 14.5.a: Upheld, EIR 5.1: Not upheld
The complainant has requested legal advice relating to a planning matter. Gosport Borough Council withheld the requested information under the exemption for legal professional privilege – section 42 of the FOIA. During the Commissioner’s investigation the public authority reconsidered the request and withheld the information under the exception for the course of justice – regulation 12(5)(b) of the EIR. The Commissioner’s decision is that Gosport Borough Council wrongly handled the request under the FOIA and breached regulation 5(1), regulation 14(1) and regulation 14(5)(a) of the EIR and that it correctly withheld information under regulation 12(5)(b). The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any steps.