London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames

The complainant has requested from the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames (the Council) information relating to the transfer of the lease of Pensford Field in Kew, from Pensford Field Environmental Trust (PFET) to Dose of Nature (DoN). The Council provided some information but withheld other information, applying regulation 12(4)(e) - internal communications. The Commissioner’s decision is that regulation 12(4)(e) is engaged, but the public interest in maintaining the exception is not strong enough to overcome the presumption in favour of disclosure at regulation 12(2). The Commissioner has also decided that, on the balance of probabilities, the Council does not hold further information within the scope of the request. Additionally he has found that the Council breached regulation 5(2) of the EIR by responding to the complainant beyond the statutory timeframe for complying with a request. The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
•    Disclose the withheld information, with appropriate redactions for personal data.