Erewash Borough Council

The complainant submitted an information request to Erewash Borough Council (the council) for comprehensive records of interactions, arrangements and policies governing contact between council planning staff and third-party agents, acting on behalf of developers, since 2020. 
The council relied upon regulations 12(4)(b) (manifestly unreasonable) and 12(5)(d) (confidentiality of proceedings) of the EIR to withhold information in relation to question one of the request.
The Commissioner’s decision is that the council was entitled to apply regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR to question one of the request, and that the public interest in maintaining the exception, outweighs the public interest in disclosure. However, he finds that the council failed to comply with regulation 9 of the EIR because it did not provide advice and assistance on refining question one of the request, when it would have been reasonable to do so.
The Commissioner requires the council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation:
•    Provide the complainant with advice and assistance on how they may refine question one, to make it less burdensome, in accordance with regulation 9 of the EIR. However, where even a refined question one could exceed the appropriate limit, this should be clearly explained to the complainant.
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.