Oxford City Council

The complainant has requested information held by Oxford City Council (the council) relating to the breakdown of the costs for the refurbishment of properties purchased for the purpose of accommodating Ukrainian and Afghan refugee families. The council withheld the requested information, citing section 43(2) (commercial interests), and section 40(2) (personal information), of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council was not correct to have cited section 40(2). However, he is satisfied that the council is entitled to rely on section 43(2) of FOIA as its basis for withholding all of the information relevant to the request.