Legal basis

• Freedom of Information Act 2000
• Environmental Information Regulations 2004

Key dates of the case

• 11.07.09 The complainant made a request via email for information from the building control department of Castle Point Borough Council.
• 23.07.09 The Council responded via email stating: “It will be necessary for you to continue booking appointments and paying the charges as we are not changing any of our procedures or policies until such time as the Government issue a directive to do so.”
• 29.07.09 Complainant registers a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office.
• 24.08.09 The Information Commissioners Office wrote to the Council requesting a copy of the information within 20 working days. The Council did not respond.
• 16.09.09 The Information Commissioners Office wrote to the Council supplying them with copies of the two Decision Notices - FER0236058 and FER0240911 (issued on 27 July 2009) and asked the Council to reconsider their refusal of the complainant’s request in light of the Commissioner’s findings.
• 7.10.09 The Council responded to the Commissioner by letter refusing to reconsider their refusal on the basis that, in their view, the requested information was not environmental.
• 20.10.09 The Information Commissioner wrote to the Council stating that guidance has been issued guidance on property searches and two precedent Decision Notices, and also has a number of current cases relating to this matter, for which Decision Notices are being drafted. As a result, the Commissioner declined to delay his decision.
• 12.11.09 Information Commissioner publishes decision notice on the ICO November Decision notices web page.

Elapsed time of Case = 123 days

Online decisions and public reporting

Information Commissioners Office – November 2009 Decisions

Outline of Case

Summary (Copied from the Decision Notice Reference: FER0265630)

The complainant made a request to inspect the building control information in relation to a named address. The Council agreed to provide the information requested but only on the provision of a fee based on the property search regulations. The Council argued that it was allowed to charge for the information under regulation 8(1) as the information was not in a public register and could not be inspected without further collation by the Council. The Commissioner has investigated and found that the request is a request to inspect environmental information but that the Council cannot charge for the information by virtue of regulation 8(2)(b). The Council must make the information available for inspection in accordance with regulation 5(1) within 35 calendar days of this notice.

Case Notes

Castle Point Borough Council

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Case last updated: 5 August 2009