Birmingham City Council

The complainant has requested information about the Council’s handling of a previous FoI request he had made. The Commissioner’s decision is that Birmingham City Council is entitled to rely on section 40(2) – third party personal data – for junior administrative staff involved in the handling of the request.  It is not entitled to rely on the same exemption for senior staff or those with a decision making role in the handling of the request.  The Commissioner also finds that the Council has correctly engaged section 42 – legal professional privilege – for the withheld information and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.  The Council breached section 1 of the FOIA by failing to supply information held falling within the scope of the request.  The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: Disclose the bundles supplied to the Commissioner entitled-Bundle 1 Pages 1-87 Redacted; Bundle 2 Pages 88-117 Redacted; Bundle 3 Pages 118 -147 Redacted; to include the personal data to which section 40(2) does not apply as detailed in the Confidential Appendix. Disclose the bundle supplied to the Commissioner totalling 1120 pages entitled-Appendix 1 FOI 3692570 Unredacted Document Bundle Re FOI 1076136.pdf.  Redact the personal data from this bundle as detailed in the Confidential Appendix. First-tier tribunal (General Regulatory chamber) information rights appeal EA/2020/0002 appeal part-allowed.