Hertford Heath Parish Council

The complainant, a law firm acting on behalf of a client, requested information held by Hertford Heath Parish Council (the parish council) relating to a Neighbourhood Plan. The parish council advised that it believed that it had provided all of the information held in response to the request, with the exception of a small amount of information which it confirmed had been withheld under regulation 13 – third party personal data, of the EIR. During the Commissioner’s investigation, the parish council then identified and released some additional information to the complainant. The Commissioner has decided that the withheld information does not actually fall within the scope of the request. Furthermore, the Commissioner is satisfied that the parish council has, on the balance of probabilities, now identified and released all of the information that it holds, or that is held on its behalf, which is relevant to the request.However, as the parish council failed to disclose all the relevant information within 20 working days, and also did not carry out an internal review within the required 40 working days, the Commissioner has found a breach of regulation 5(2), and regulation 11(4), of the EIR respectively. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2023/0212 appeal allowed.