Bassetlaw District Council
- Date 18 June 2020
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) EIR 12.5.b: Not upheld, EIR 14.1: Upheld, EIR 5.1: Upheld
The complainant has requested legal advice relating to planning permission for a specific development. Bassetlaw District Council refused the request, citing the exemption for legal professional privilege – section 42 of the FOIA. The public authority subsequently reconsidered the request under the EIR and applied the exception for the course of justice (regulation 12(5)(b)) to withhold the same information. The Commissioner’s decision is that Bassetlaw District Council wrongly handled the request under the FOIA and breached regulation 5(1) and regulation 14(1) of the EIR but that it correctly withheld the requested information under regulation 12(5)(b). The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any steps. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2020/0223 dismissed.