Waverley Borough Council

The complainant requested information relating to a planning application from Waverley Borough Council (“the council”). The council initially said that the information was exempt under Regulation 13(1) of the EIR (personal data). In its review it amended its position and said that the information had been deleted prior to the request being received. During the course of the Commissioner's investigation, however, it said that it had carried out further searches of its email archives and had located a copy of the information. It therefore disclosed this to the complainant. The Commissioner’s decision is therefore that the council failed to comply with Regulation 5(2) in that it did not provide the information to the complainant within 20 working days. As the information has now been disclosed, the Commissioner does not require the council to take any further steps.