London Borough of Lambeth

The complainant has requested information about the London Borough of Lambeth’s (LBL) “Investment Committee”. LBL said it did not hold this information because it did not have an Investment Committee. It failed to respond to an internal review request despite the complainant requesting one with evidence that appeared to contradict its initial refusal. 

The Commissioner’s decision is that LBL is not correct when it says that it does not have an Investment Committee and therefore does not hold any information within the scope of the request. Furthermore, LBL should have provided reasonable advice and assistance and explained to the complainant that it had an internal officer group which referred to itself as an investment committee although it was not a formal council committee as the name superficially suggested. 
In failing to provide a correct and timely response, LBL contravened its obligations under sections 1 and 10 of the FOIA. In failing to provide an adequate explanation regarding the nature of the information it held, it contravened its obligation under section 16 of the FOIA to provide reasonable advice and assistance. 

The Commissioner requires LBL to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation:  
Issue a fresh response whereby LBL either provides the information described in the request or issues a refusal notice explaining why it is not obliged to do so. Where it believes it is entitled to withhold only part of the requested information it should provide the remainder and provide a refusal notice explaining why it is withholding that part of information. LBL should also provide advice and assistance where it is reasonable to do so.

The public authority must take these steps within 30 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.