London Borough of Croydon

The complainant requested information about a planning enforcement decision. London Borough of Croydon (‘the council’) has made some relevant information available (with personal data withheld) and has applied regulation 12(5)(b) to the remaining information (which also contains personal data). Regulation 12(5)(b) concerns the course of justice. Finally, the council relied on regulation 6 of the EIR in respect of some relevant information as it considers this information is already publicly available and easily accessible to the complainant. The Commissioner’s decision is as follows: Some of the information to which the council applied regulation 12(5)(b) is the complainant’s own personal data. By virtue of regulation 5(3), the duty to make environmental information available under regulation 5(1) does not apply to this information. The remaining information to which the council applied regulation 12(5)(b) engages that exception and the public interest favours maintaining the exception. At the point of its internal review, the council was not entitled to continue to rely on regulation 6(1). The timeliness of the council’s initial response, refusal and internal review did not comply with regulations 5(1), 5(2), 14(2) and 11(4). The Commissioner requires the council to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: Provide the complainant with the information previously not provided on the basis of regulation 6 or otherwise make it available in a format that is accessible to them, taking into account the complainant’s visual impairment.