London Borough of Waltham Forest

The complainant requested information concerning a specific property subject to a HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) licence.  London Borough of Waltham Forest (the Council) processed the request under FOIA and withheld most of the requested information under section 21 (information accessible to applicant by other means) and section 40(2)(third party personal data).  The Council upheld the response and exemptions applied at internal review.  The Commissioner has found that as the information requested is environmental information, the Council should have processed the request under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR).  The Commissioner’s decision is that regulation 6(1)(b) EIR is engaged to some of the information requested by the complainant and that the remaining information requested is exempt from disclosure under regulation 13 (third party personal data) of the EIR.  The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation:
•    Issue a fresh response to the complainant in respect of the ‘enforcement actions’ part of his request, confirming whether/what information the Council holds within scope of the request.  If the Council confirms holding relevant information, then they should either disclose that information (with any necessary redactions) to the complainant, or issue a refusal in compliance with the EIR and citing the specific exception(s) relied upon.
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.