Complaint against Flintshire County Council

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Posted by ChrisCorbin on 19 Aug 2010

Legal basis

UK Freedom of Information Act 2000 (Section 50)

UK Environmental Information Regulations 2004

Key dates of the case

31 July 2009 The Complainant requested information required to complete a compliant CON29R.

28 September 2009 The Council responded to the Complainant stating that it would respond pending further legal advice.

1 October 2009 The Complainant wrote to the Council and asked it to review its decision not to allow access to the requested information.

13 October 2009 The Council wrote to the Complainant and reiterated that it would contact him again once it had received legal advice.

13 November 2009 The Complainant lodged the complaint with the Information Commissioners Office.

9 April 2010 The Information Commissioners Office contacted the Council and explained the requirements of the EIR.

7 May 2010 The Council wrote to the Complainant setting out the position following the internal review. Some information would be available at no charge other information would be available upon payment of a fee.

12 May 2010 The Information Commissioners Office wrote to the Council about the Councils intentions to levy a charge.

14 May 2010 The Council acknowledged the Information Commissioners Office email and stated that the Council would respond by 10 June 2010.

10 June 2010 The Council wrote to the Information Commissioners Office setting out the Councils position on the charges.

11 June 2010 The Complainant wrote to the Information Commissioners Charge to state that the Local Land Charges Register information was still required.

14 June 2010 The Information Commissioners Office wrote to the Council that the Complainant still wished to access the information.

22 June 2010 The Information Commissioners Office and the Council agreed a final deadline of the 1 July 2010.

9 August 2010 The Information Commissioner issues the Decision notice.

20 August 2010 The Information Commissioners Office publishes the Decision notice.

Elapsed time = 344 days

Outline of Case

Summary (Copied from the Decision Notice Reference: FER0278851. Date: 9 August 2010)

The complainant submitted a request to Flintshire County Council (‘the Council’) for information from environmental records held on a property in Buckley. The complainant specified that he wished to view the records in person. The Council agreed to provide some of the information requested free of charge. However, the Council only agreed to provide the remainder of the information on the provision of a fee. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council failed to comply with regulation 5(1) as it failed to make information available on request and regulation 5(2) as it failed to make it available within the statutory time for compliance. The Commissioner also found that the Council breached regulation 8(2)(b) by attempting to impose a charge for allowing the complainant to inspect the requested information. In addition, the Council breached regulation 11(4) by failing to conduct an internal review within 40 working days. The Commissioner requires the Council to make the requested information available for the complainant to inspect within 35 days of this notice.

Case Notes

Flintshire County Council

Information Commissioners Office

Reference:

Complaint against Chichester District Council

Complaint against City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council

Complaint against East Riding of Yorkshire Council

Complaint against Kirklees Council

Complaint against Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council

Complaint against Liverpool City Council

Complaint against Maldon District Council

Complaint against Stoke City Council