London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames

The complainant made a request for information under FOIA to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (the Council) for all communication between named officers of the Council relating to the change made by the Monitoring Officer to the Service Committee Terms of Reference, i.e. change to the virement limit for decision-making service committees, and concerning an alleged inconsistency by the Council between the Scheme of Virement and these Terms of Reference. 
The Council initially refused the request citing section 14 (vexatious requests). Subsequently, during the Commissioner’s investigation, it changed its position and withheld the information citing sections 36 (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs) and section 42 (legal professional privilege).
The Commissioner found that although section 36 relied on by the Council to withhold information was engaged, the public interest favours disclosure. The Commissioner also found that the Council was entitled to rely on section 42 to withhold some of the information within the scope of the request and the public interest favours maintaining the exemption to the relevant information.
The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
•    Disclose information withheld under section 36, with the exception of the emails also withheld under section 42, which are listed in the confidential annex a copy of which will be provided to the Council only. The highlighted emails within the confidential annex are not exempt under section 42, contrary to the Council’s labelling, and should be disclosed in line with other information exempt by the Council under section 36.
•    In disclosing the requested information, the Council should include names of senior level officers, i.e. Assistant Director and above. The Council can redact names of junior officers and any third party which are external to the Council. 
The public authority 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.