The complainant has requested for a copy of the summary of legal agreements (contained in Appendix 2 - Hemisphere, Paddington Central- Summary of key terms) which was presented to Liverpool City Council (the council) on 19 March 2024. The council disclosed a redacted copy of the appendix and refused to disclose the redacted information on the basis of regulation 12(5)(e) of the EIR (confidentiality of commercial or industrial information). The Commissioner’s decision is that the council has failed to demonstrate that regulation 12(5)(e) is engaged. He also considers that the council has breached regulation 5(2) as it failed to respond to the complainant’s request within 20 working days and regulation 11(4) as it did not provide an internal review within the 40 working day requirement. The Commissioner requires the council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
•    Disclose the redacted information in the Appendix. 
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 Freedom of Information Act 2000 and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.