North West Leicestershire District Council
- Date 14 March 2019
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) FOI 1: Upheld, FOI 40: Not upheld
The complainant requested from North West Leicestershire District Council (the Council) information in relation to a compensation payment recorded in the Council’s accounts for 2016/17. The Council decided to withhold some information relying on sections 40(2) (personal information) and section 41 (information provided in confidence) of the FOIA, whilst for the remainder of the request it stated that it did not hold the requested information.
The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council has correctly applied the exemption provided by section 40(2). Following that conclusion it was not necessary to also consider the application of section 41.
The Commissioner also found that the Council incorrectly stated that it did not hold further information, resulting in a breach of section 1(1) of the FOIA. She requires the Council to provide the complainant with a fresh response regarding Question (2).
The Council must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2019/0117 under appeal.