North East Lincolnshire Council

The complainant requested information from North East Lincolnshire Council (“the Council”) about warnings sent to food establishments. In a previous response, the Council disclosed some information to the requester, and refused the remainder of the request under section 12(1) of the FOIA – cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit. The Council was subsequently ordered by the Commissioner to issue a fresh response. In its fresh response, it refused to provide the outstanding information, stating it was exempt under section 30(1)(b) of the FOIA: investigations and proceedings. The Commissioner’s decision is that, while the information falls within the exemption at section 30(1)(b) of the FOIA, the balance of the public interests favours disclosure. The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: subject to the redaction of third party personal data, as described in this notice, disclose the information to the complainant.