Birmingham City Council

The complainant asked Birmingham City Council for information relating to a payment it made to the GMB Union. The Council provided the information held in respect of parts 1 and 4 of his request and provided a not held response in respect of part 3. The Council initially refused to provide information in respect of part 2 of the complainant’s request in reliance on section 40(2) of the FOIA. Following the Commissioner’s intervention, the Council subsequently provided the information relevant to part 2 of the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that Birmingham City Council has complied with section 1 of the FOIA by providing the complainant with information it holds in respect of part 2 of the complainant’s request. The Commissioner has also decided that the Council breached section 10 of the FOIA by failing to provide the complainant with the information he asked for in respect of all parts of his request and particularly in respect of part 2.