London Borough of Redbridge

The complainant submitted a request to the London Borough of Redbridge (the Council) seeking emails from senior staff about whether an investigation into (then) Councillor Athwal should be commenced in respect of him not holding a landlord licence. The Council withheld the information on the basis of section 40(2) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the majority of the information in scope is not exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 40(2) of FOIA, the exception being a spreadsheet described in the decision notice below which the Commissioner accepts is exempt from disclosure on the basis of this exemption. The Commissioner has concluded that the addresses of the rental properties are exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 44(1)(a) (statutory prohibition) of FOIA.