London Borough of Lambeth

The complainant sought information from London Borough of Lambeth (“the Council”) regarding a redevelopment project. The Council provided some redacted information to the complainant, however it refused to disclose the remainder (“the withheld information”) citing regulation 12(5)(e) of the EIR as a basis for non-disclosure.
The Commissioner’s decision is that at the time of the request the Council was entitled to withhold the withheld information, which concerns commercial interests. The Council correctly applied regulation 12(5)(e), however it breached regulation 14(3) of the EIR as it incorrectly issued its refusal notice under FOIA and not the EIR.