London Borough of Hackney

The complainant has requested information from the London Borough of Hackney (the Council) relating to letters sent to faith leaders. The Council relied on section 40(2) of FOIA (third party personal information) to withhold the information. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council breached section 16 of FOIA by failing to obtain the correct objective reading of the request. The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Contact the complainant to clarify the request. The Council must take these steps within 30 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.