Carmarthenshire County Council

The complainant has requested from Carmarthenshire County Council (‘the Council’), information about licensed dog breeders in its area. The Council said that the information was exempt from disclosure under sections 31 (Law enforcement) and 40 (Personal information) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council was entitled to rely on section 31(1)(a) to withhold much of the requested information. However, she found that, on balance, the public interest favoured disclosing the names and addresses of licensed dog breeders. She considered whether this information was exempt from disclosure under section 40(2) of the FOIA, and found that it was not. The Commissioner requires the Council to disclose the names and addresses of licensed dog breeders.