London Borough of Bexley

The complainant submitted a number of requests to the London Borough of Bexley (the Council) between July 2023 and March 2024. While it initially responded to some of the complainant’s earlier requests, in December 2023 the Council sought to rely on section 14(1) of FOIA (vexatious) to refuse to answer any further requests. The complainant contacted the Commissioner in respect of 10 requests that the Council had refused under section 14(1). The Commissioner has determined that of the outstanding requests, nine fall to be considered under the EIR rather than FOIA. However, he is satisfied that the Council is entitled to refuse to comply with these nine requests on the basis of regulation 12(4)(b) (manifestly unreasonable) of the EIR and that in all circumstances of the requests the public interest favours maintaining the exception. The Commissioner also finds that the Council is entitled to rely on section 14(1) of FOIA to refuse the one remaining request on the basis that it is vexatious. The Commissioner does not require any steps. Information Tribunal FT/EA/2024/0185 under appeal.