Maidstone Borough Council

The complainant has submitted a number of requests for information held by Maidstone Borough Council (the council) about the way in which it has handled certain planning matters. The complainant has raised concerns with the Commissioner about the council’s failure to provide two sets of information in response to their information requests. Whilst the Commissioner considers that the FOIA is the correct information access regime, he has decided that, on the balance of probabilities, the council does not hold one of the sets of information described by the complainant. With regard to the second set of information, the Commissioner is satisfied that the council is entitled to rely on section 40(2) (third party personal information) of FOIA, as its basis for refusing to provide this information.