Blackpool Borough Council
- Date 28 November 2023
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) EIR 12.4.a: Not upheld, EIR 12.4.e: Partly upheld, EIR 12.5.b: Not upheld
The complainant requested information from Blackpool Borough Council (“the Council”) regarding a planning application. The Council has withheld the information requested in part one of the request, citing regulations 12(4)(e) (internal communications) and regulation 12(5)(b) (course of justice) as its bases for doing so and denied holding any information within the scope of part two of the request.
The Commissioner’s decision is that: the Council is entitled to rely on regulation 12(4)(e) to withhold all of the information withheld on this basis, other than one email for which the exception is not engaged; the Council is entitled to withhold the remainder of the information within the scope of part one of the request (excluding the information not considered in this notice as described in paragraphs 8-10 of this notice) under regulation 12(5)(b); on the balance of probabilities, the Council does not hold any information within the scope of part two of the request.
The Commissioner requires the Council to disclose the email for which he has determined the internal communications exception is not engaged (as described in paragraph 15 of this notice) to ensure compliance with the legislation.