Hertford Heath Parish Council

The complainant has requested information relating to a report produced for Hertford Heath Parish Council (“the Parish Council”) by AECOM regarding the Hertford Heath Neighbourhood Plan. The Parish Council’s position is that it has disclosed all of the information held within the scope of the request. The complainant disputes this. At a late stage of the Commissioner’s investigation the Parish Council changed its position to refuse the request under regulation 12(4)(b) (manifestly unreasonable) on the grounds that it is vexatious. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Parish Council has failed to demonstrate that the request is vexatious and is therefore not entitled to refuse the request under regulation 12(4)(b). Furthermore, the Commissioner finds that the Parish Council does hold further information within the scope of the request, specifically an email sent from the Parish Council to AECOM on 12 February 2024 at 9:25 PM and that on the balance of probabilities this was held at the time of the request. The Commissioner requires the Parish Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: Disclose the email sent from the Parish Council to AECOM on 12 February 2024 at 9:25 PM, with appropriate redactions of personal data such as names and email addresses and phone numbers.