Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council

The complainant has requested information with regards to correspondence between an MP and specific departments in Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council (the council). The council provided some information, but stated that it was “unable to search” for the remainder.The Commissioner’s decision is that the council has breached regulation 5(2) of the EIR as it has not issued a valid response within the required 20 working days. The Commissioner requires the council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.With regards to the part of the complainant’s request for information relating to the Building Control Department, the council must respond afresh. This fresh response should either comply with the request by disclosing the requested information, or be in the form of a refusal notice that specifies a valid ground under the EIR as to why that information will not be disclosed. The council must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of FOIA and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.