Wandsworth Borough Council

The complainant made a request to Wandsworth Borough Council (the council) for information relating to four-bedroom properties provided to homeless people. The council withheld the full postcodes of the properties under section 40(2) of FOIA, as it considered that disclosing this information would contravene data protection law. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council has correctly relied on section 40(2) of FOIA to withhold the full postcodes of the four-bedroom properties. The Commissioner also finds that, on the balance of probabilities, the council provided the complainant with the partial postcodes that it held at the time of the request. However, the Commissioner has recorded a procedural breach of section 10 of FOIA. The Commissioner does not require the council to take any further steps as a result of this decision notice.