London Borough of Lambeth

The complainant has requested local authority and housing association letting data. In their request, the complainant specified a preference to receive the requested information in excel format. The London Borough of Lambeth (“the Council”) provided some information in an image of an excel table, and stated that the remaining information was not held. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation, the Council amended its position and stated that it held information within scope of the majority of the request and would disclose it to the complainant. It stated that the remainder of the information wasn’t held at the time of the request. The Council provided some information in the requested format however the complainant maintained that the data is incomplete. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council has not met its obligations at sections 1(1) (information held), 10 (time limits for compliance) and 11 (means by which communication to be made). The Commissioner requires the Council to provide the requested information within scope of parts B, C and F to the complainant in the format specified in their request, with reference to the Commissioner’s guidance  on how to make this disclosure safely. 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.