Cheshire East Council

The complainant requested information from Cheshire East Council (CEC) relating to the demographics of the CEC area and the former Macclesfield Borough Council (MBC) area. The complainant also requested information relating to business rates and council tax collected by CEC and from the former MBC area. The Commissioner’s decision is that CEC is not entitled to rely on section 12(1) (cost limit) of FOIA to refuse to provide the information requested in parts 2b and 3b of the request. The Commissioner requires CEC to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. CEC must issue a fresh response to parts 2b and 3b of the request which does not rely on section 12(1) of FOIA. CEC 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.