Hastings Borough Council

The complainant has requested information about an agreement to plant holly whips on a particular strip of land. The council initially refused to deal with the request, referring the complainant to previous correspondence sent to him which had stated that regulation 12(4)(b) would be applied to any repeat requests that were subsequently received from him. At the internal review, the council revised its position. It advised the complainant that it did not hold any information in response to parts 1 and 2 of his request. Whilst the council did go on to provide a limited amount of information in response to part 3 of the request, it confirmed that any remaining information was to be withheld under regulation 12(5)(e) of the EIR. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation, the council withdrew its reliance on regulation 12(5)(e). However, it confirmed that it now regarded the withheld information to be exempt from disclosure under regulation 12(5)(b) of the EIR. The Commissioner’s decision is that, on the balance of probabilities, the council does not hold information that falls within the scope of part 1 and 2 of the complainant’s request. She is also satisfied that the council is entitled to rely on regulation 12(5)(b) when withholding some of the information relevant to part 3 of the request, and that the public interest weighs in favour of withholding that information. However, as the council failed to make other sections of the information held available within 20 working days of receipt of the request, the Commissioner has found there to be a breach of regulation 5(2) of the EIR. The Commissioner does not require the council to take any steps as a result of this decision notice.