Pembrokeshire County Council

The complainant requested information in respect of charitable organisations and churches occupying property owned by Pembrokeshire County Council (‘the Council’) on concessionary terms. The Council confirmed that subsidised rents are not granted, but informed the complainant that it was aware that there are historical agreements whereby the rent could be considered to be subsidised, and cited section 12 (cost of compliance) to refuse to comply with this aspect of the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council has complied with its obligations under section 1(1) FOIA in respect of the request. He has also determined that the Council was entitled to rely on section 12(2) FOIA to establish whether it held relevant information in respect of possible historical agreements.