Harlow Council

The complainant asked the public authority for a copy of legal advice supplied to it by its legal adviser in connection with a planning issue. The public authority withheld it under section 42 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 claiming legal professional privilege and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information. The Commissioner found that the requested information should have been considered under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Nevertheless the claim that the information was subject to legal professional privilege still applied and the information was exempt from disclosure by virtue of regulation 12(5)(b).