Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service

The complainant has requested fire safety advice for a specific block of flats. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority (“the public authority”) refused to disclose the information, citing section 43(2) (commercial interests) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the withheld information is a mix of environmental and non-environmental information, so the Commissioner has considered both regulation 12(5)(e) (commercial and industrial information) and section 43(2), the public authority has failed to demonstrate that either regulation 12(5)(e) or section 43(2) applies and in failing to issue an appropriate refusal under the EIR, the public authority has breached regulation 14(3) of the EIR. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: disclose the requested information, with all personal data redacted under section 40(2) or regulation 13.