Penkridge Parish Council

The complainant requested information held by Penkridge Parish Council (the parish council) about a tender exercise relating to a particular refurbishment. The Commissioner’s decision is that the parish council has breached section 16(1) (advice and assistance) of FOIA. This is because part of the request did not have a single objective reading, and the parish council failed to seek clarification of this part of the request from the complainant under section 1(3) of FOIA. The Commissioner also considers that the parish council has breached section 1(1) (general right of access) of FOIA, as it misconstrued the remaining parts of the request, and did not provide the information requested, or advise that it was not held. The Commissioner requires the parish council to provide the complainant with advice and assistance by requesting clarification of one part of the request, and to issue a fresh response to all parts of the request.