Bristol City Council

The complainant requested information from Bristol City Council (“the Council”) about Avon Mutual Bank (“the Bank”), specifically a copy of a due diligence report. The Council refused to provide the requested information, citing the commercial interests exemption under section 43(2) of FOIA as its basis for withholding the information.
The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council has correctly applied section 43(2) to some of the withheld information, however, for much of the withheld information the exemption is not engaged.
The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: Disclose the withheld information, other than the information for which the Commissioner has decided that the exemption is engaged, as listed in the confidential annex to this notice.