City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council

The complainant requested information from the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (“the Council”) about the Disposal / Leases of Public Open Spaces. The Council initially considered the information was exempt from disclosure under Section 12(1) (cost of compliance) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation the Council amended its position relying on the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) and cited Regulation 12(4)(b) (manifestly unreasonable) to the withheld information. The Commissioner’s decision is that the complainant’s request can be categorised as manifestly unreasonable under regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR, by virtue of cost, and the public interest favours maintaining this exception. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any further steps.