West of England Combined Authority

The complainant has requested information held by West of England Combined Authority (WECA) relating to plans for six strategic transport schemes in the region. The Commissioner’s decision is that WECA was not correct to rely on section 44 of the FOIA (prohibitions on disclosure) when refusing the request. Furthermore, whilst WECA subsequently cited regulation 12(4)(d) of the EIR (material in the course of completion), it has also failed to demonstrate why this exception is engaged. As WECA failed to initially deal with the request under the EIR, the Commissioner has also found a breach of regulation 14(3) of the EIR. The Commissioner requires WECA to disclose the withheld information set out within paragraph 12 of this decision notice.