Natural England

The complainant has requested copies of correspondence about Wirral Borough Council and alleged over spraying and raking at Hoylake beach. Natural England (‘NE’) relied on regulation 12(5)(f) of the EIR (interests of the person who provided the information) to refuse the first part of the request. NE relied on regulation 12(4)(a) of the EIR (information not held) to refuse the remainder of the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that NE was entitled to rely on regulation 12(5)(f) to refuse the first part of the request and that, on the balance of probabilities, no information is held for the remainder of the request. The Commissioner does not require further steps.