Cherwell District Council

The complainant has requested information held by Cherwell District Council (the council) regarding its costs in relation to empty units at Castle Quay Shopping Centre. The council provided the complainant with a link to information published on its website, and advised that it considered that it was entitled to withhold the remaining information held relevant to the request under the exemption at section 43(2) (commercial interests) of FOIA. During the Commissioner’s investigation, the council confirmed that it had misunderstood the terms of the request. The Commissioner is satisfied that the request has only one objective reading, and as the council failed to provide a response which addressed this objective reading, it did not comply with its duty under section 1 of FOIA. The Commissioner requires the council to issue a fresh response, based on the correct objective reading of the request.