Wheathampstead Parish Council

The complainant has requested information held by Wheathampstead Parish Council (the council) with regards to a church wall. The council provided information to the complainant in response to their request, with redactions made to personal data where it was considered disclosure would breach a data protection principle. The complainant does not dispute the redactions made to the information supplied, but they have questioned whether the council has identified all of the relevant information held. The Commissioner has not been convinced that all relevant searches for information falling within scope of the complainant’s request have been carried out by the council. In light of this, the Commissioner’s decision is that, on the balance of probabilities, further information may be held by the council. The Commissioner requires the council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Conduct fresh searches for the requested information and disclose any further information it identifies, or provide an appropriate refusal notice in accordance with FOIA. The council 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.