Somerset Council

The complainant has requested information relating to a planning appeal. Somerset Council (‘the Council’) disclosed some information, but withheld the remainder, citing regulations 12(4)(a) (Information not held), 12(5)(b) (Course of justice etc) and 13(1) (Third party personal data). The Commissioner’s decision is that, on the balance of probabilities, the Council does not hold some of the requested information and was entitled to rely on regulation 12(4)(a). He finds that personal data was properly withheld under regulation 12(3) by way of regulation 13(1). He finds that the Council was entitled to rely on regulation 12(5)(b) to withhold information which attracted Legal Professional Privilege (LPP). However, the Council failed to show how some information which did not attract LPP engaged the exception, and so the Commissioner’s decision is that it was not entitled to rely on regulation 12(5)(b) to withhold that information. The Commissioner requires the Council to disclose the information which the Commissioner has determined does not engage regulation 12(5)(b), ensuring that personal data is appropriately redacted.