London Borough of Waltham Forest

The complainant requested information from the London Borough of Waltham Forest (“the Council”) about the history of the poor state of repair of her property. The Council initially refused to provide the information, considering that it comprised the personal data of previous occupants. Subsequently, it provided some information, which it extracted from a spreadsheet. However, it withheld some information under section 40(2) of the FOIA – third party personal data. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation, the Council located some further information which it considered to fall outside the scope of the request. This comprised technicians’ comments on faults and issues that had been investigated or repaired. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council correctly withheld some information under section 40(2) of the FOIA. However, having considered the scope of the request, she has determined that the technicians’ comments fell within its scope. The Commissioner orders the Council to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: consider the technicians’ comments for disclosure, and provide a response to the complainant in respect of these.