Pembrokeshire County Council

The complainant submitted three requests for various information in respect of Mill Bay Homes from Pembrokeshire County Council. The Council refused all three requests on the basis that they were vexatious, citing section 14(1) of the FOIA. Following the Commissioner’s investigation, Pembrokeshire Council reconsidered the requests under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (‘the EIR), citing regulation 12(4)(b).  The Commissioner’s decision is that Pembrokeshire County Council should have originally considered the request under the EIR, and  was not entitled to rely on regulation 12(4)(b) in respect of all three requests. The Commissioner has also recorded a breach of regulation 14 in respect of the first request due to its response being outside of the required timescale (20 working days) to provide a response.