London Borough of Hillingdon

The complainant has requested information on the London Borough of Hillingdon’s (“the Council”) reliance on the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 to withhold specific information. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council inappropriately relied on section 21(1) in the first instance whilst later creating a spreadsheet to provide the requested information. The Commissioner finds a procedural breach of section 17(1) in not providing a refusal notice within 20 working days. The Commissioner therefore does not require the public authority to take any steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.