Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

The complainant submitted a request to the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (the Council) seeking information about the circumstances in which it could cancel a Penalty Charge Notice due to medical circumstances. The Council confirmed that it held information falling within the scope of the request but considered this to be exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 43(2) (commercial interests) of FOIA. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation it explained that it now considered sections 31(1)(c) and 31(1)(g) (law enforcement) of FOIA to apply instead. The Commissioner’s decision is that the exemptions contained at sections 31(1)(c) and 31(1)(g) of FOIA do not provide a basis to withhold the information.