Caerphilly County Borough Council
- Date 16 November 2020
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) FOI 17: Upheld, FOI 31: Not upheld
The complainant requested a copy of a report into the conduct of the previous Chief Executive. Caerphilly County Borough Council relied on section 40(2) and, later, section 31(1)(c) of the FOIA to withhold the information. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council has correctly relied upon section 31(1)(c) of the FOIA to withhold the requested information and that the balance of the public interest favours maintaining the exemption. However, as the Council failed to issue a refusal notice, citing all the exemptions on which it later came to rely, within 20 working days, it breached section 17(1) of the FOIA. The Commissioner does not require any further steps.