Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

The complainant has requested information from Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (the Council) regarding the decision to use the COVID Outbreak Management Fund (‘COMF’) to purchase and convert buses. The Commissioner’s decision is that, on the balance of probabilities, the Council does not hold any additional information within the scope of the request, beyond what it has already provided. The Commissioner also finds that the Commission breached section 10(1) and 17(1) of FOIA by failing to communicate information or issue a refusal notice within 20 working days. The Commissioner does not require further steps.