Surrey County Council

The complainant has requested information about Surrey County Council’s (SCC) agreement with West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service (WSFRS) to provide its emergency call handling and mobilising function. SCC said that most of the requested information was exempt from disclosure under sections 41 (Information provided in confidence) and 43 (Commercial interests) of the FOIA. It also said that it did not hold some of the requested information. The Commissioner’s decision is that, on the balance of probabilities, SCC did not hold some of the requested information. With regard to the information it did hold, she found that SCC was entitled to rely on section 43 of the FOIA to withhold it. The Commissioner also found that SCC breached sections 1 and 10 of the FOIA by failing to respond to the request within the statutory time for compliance. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2021/0204 allowed in part.