Harrogate Borough Council
- Date 29 March 2023
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) EIR 11.4: Upheld, EIR 12.5.b: Not upheld, EIR 14 2: Upheld
The complainant has requested information held by Harrogate Borough Council (the council) about planning permissions that relate to the opening times of a particular business. The council provided some information in response to the request. It withheld the remaining information under regulation 12(5)(b) – course of justice, of the EIR. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council is entitled to rely on regulation 12(5)(b) as its basis for refusing to release part of the information that is relevant to the request. However, as the council failed to issue a refusal notice within 20 working days, and did not carry out an internal review within 40 working days, the Commissioner has found a breach of regulation 14(2) and 11(4) of the EIR, respectively.