Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

The complainant requested information relating to animal accommodation. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council (the “council”) refused the request under section 12 because it considered the cost of compliance would exceed the appropriate limit. It also applied the exemption in section 21 (information accessible by other means) in relation to information available on its website. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council correctly confirmed that it did not hold the information in part 6 of the request and complied with section 1, that it correctly applied section 12 to parts 1-5 of the request and that it correctly applied the exemption in section 21 but failed to provide advice and assistance and breached section 16. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any steps.