London Borough of Croydon

The complainant has requested copies of the leases between London Borough of Croydon (the Council) and third parties relating to a specific commercial site. The Council relied on section 43(2) of FOIA (commercial interests) to withhold information. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council has not complied with sections 1(1) and 10(1) of FOIA in that it has not, by the date of this notice and to the Commissioner’s knowledge, stated to the complainant whether it holds information in scope of part iv of the request, despite having confirmed to the Commissioner that it does not hold information in scope. Furthermore, the Council has not provided sufficient evidence to enable the Commissioner to establish whether, on the balance of probabilities, the Council holds information in scope of part iv. of the request. The Commissioner further finds that the Council has not correctly relied on section 43(2) to withhold information in scope of the request. The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Carry out fresh searches for the information requested in part iv. of the request and provide a substantive response to the complainant which complies with section 1 of FOIA. Disclose to the complainant the information withheld under the exemption at section 43(2), taking steps to redact any personal data contained within it. 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.