Cornwall Council

The complainant requested copies of reports held by Cornwall Council (the council) relating to visits made to a particular property on, or around, certain specified dates following reports of water in the property. The Commissioner’s decision is that, on the balance of probabilities, the council does not hold information falling within scope of the complainant’s request, and therefore regulation 12(4)(a) (information not held) of the EIR is engaged. However, as the council incorrectly considered the request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), and failed to issue an appropriate refusal notice which explicitly confirmed that it did not hold the requested information, the Commissioner has found a breach of regulation 14 (refusal to disclose information) of the EIR.