Beccles Town Council
- Date 30 September 2019
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) EIR 12.5.b: Not upheld, EIR 14.1: Upheld, EIR 5.1: Upheld
The complainant has requested information relating to the usage of Beccles Common. Beccles Town Council disclosed some information and withheld other information under the FOIA exemption for legal professional privilege (section 42). During the Commissioner’s investigation it reconsidered the request under the EIR and applied the exceptions for material in the course of completion (regulation 12(4)(d)), the course of justice (regulation 12(5)(b)) and protection of the environment (regulation 12(5)(g)) to withhold the information. The Commissioner’s decision is that Beccles Town Council wrongly handled the request under the FOIA and breached regulation 5(1) and regulation 14(1) but that it has correctly applied regulation 12(5)(b) to withhold the information. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any steps.