Knutsford Town Council

The complainant requested information relating to public rights of way at a woodland. Knutsford Town Council (the “Council”) initially handled the request under the FOIA, disclosing some information and withholding personal information under section 40. During the Commissioner’s investigation the Council reconsidered the request under the EIR and issued a new response which disclosed further information and applied regulation 13 to withhold personal information. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council is entitled to rely on regulation 13 of the EIR to withhold the personal information but that it provided some of the requested information outside the time for compliance, failed to issue a refusal notice under the EIR in time and failed to carry out an internal review, breaching regulations 5(2), 14 and 11(4). The Commissioner does not require further steps.