Potto Parish Council
- Date 4 January 2024
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) FOI 1: Not upheld, FOI 10(1): Upheld, FOI 17: Upheld, FOI 40(5B): Not upheld
The complainant requested a range of information from Potto Parish Council (the “council”). The council provided some information, confirmed that other information was not held and withheld other information under the exemption for law enforcement (section 31). The Commissioner’s decision is that in relation to request parts 5, 7 and 14, on the balance of probabilities, the council disclosed all the relevant information that it holds and in relation to part 6, the council wrongly applied the exemption in section 31 and that it should have relied on section 40(5B) of the FOIA to refuse to confirm or deny whether any information was held; the Commissioner has decided to apply this exemption himself proactively. The Commissioner also finds that the council breached section 10(1) and section 17(1) as it failed to issue a refusal notice within the statutory 20 working days.The Commissioner does not require the council to take any steps. Information Tribunal FTT EA/2024/0028 appeal dismissed.