Morecambe Town Council
- Date 27 August 2020
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) FOI 10(1): Upheld, FOI 12(1): Upheld, FOI 16: Upheld
The complainant submitted eleven separate requests to Morecambe Town Council (“the Council”) between 5 and 29 June 2019. The requests each related to various information. The Council initially refused ten of the requests under section 14(1) of the FOIA (vexatious requests). During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation, the Council issued a fresh response to the complainant within which it refused all eleven of these requests under section 12(1) of the FOIA (cost limit) because it estimated that the cost of compliance would exceed the appropriate limit.
The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council was not entitled to rely upon section 12(1) of the FOIA (cost limit) as its basis to refuse these requests and that it has not complied with its duty to provide advice and assistance under section 16 of the FOIA. The Council also failed to issue a response to request K within 20 working days and therefore breached section 10(1) of the FOIA.
The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
• Issue a fresh response to all eleven of these requests which does not cite section 12(1) of the FOIA.
The Council must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.