Decision 052/2007 Mr Norman Stewart and City of Edinburgh Council

Applicant: Mr Norman Stewart
Authority: City of Edinburgh Council
Case No: 200700057
Decision Date: 13 March 2007

Kevin Dunion
Scottish Information Commissioner

Information request made to City of Edinburgh Council ? Mr Stewart was dissatisfied with the response and submitted a request for review ? the City of Edinburgh Council failed to carry out a review within the timescales set down by FOISA.

1. Mr Stewart made an information request to the City of Edinburgh Council (the Council) on 30 September 2006.

2. The Council responded on 27 October 2006, supplying some information but refusing to release other information on the basis that it was exempt under section 36(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

3. On 1 November 2006, Mr Stewart wrote to the Council and asked it to carry out a review. At this point, he had not received the letter from the Council.

4. On 3 November, having received the Council's response in the intervening period, Mr Stewart again wrote to the Council asking it to review its decision ? on this occasion, to exempt information under section 36(1) of FOISA.

5. Mr Stewart did not receive a response to his request for review from the Council and on 9 January 2007, Mr Stewart made an application to the Commissioner for a decision in this matter.

6. The case was subsequently allocated to an investigating officer. The application was validated by establishing that Mr Stewart had made a valid information request to a Scottish public authority and had appealed to the Commissioner only after asking the authority to review its response to their request.

7. On 23 January 2007, the officer notified the Council, in terms of section 49(3)(a) of FOISA, of the application made by Mr Stewart and asked for its comments on the application.

8. The Council responded on 28 February 2007. The Council acknowledged that it had failed to carry out a review in this instance. The Council also supplied a copy of the letter sent to Mr Stewart in relation to the review the Council had subsequently undertaken.

The Commissioner finds that, in failing to respond to Mr Stewart's request for review within the 20 working days allowed by section 21(1) of FOISA, the City of Edinburgh Council failed to comply Part 1 of FOISA.

However, the Commissioner notes that the Council has carried out a belated review and therefore does not require it to take any remedial steps in relation to this failure.

Should either Mr Stewart or the Council wish to appeal against this decision, there is a right of appeal to the Court of Session on a point of law only. Any such appeal must be made within 42 days of receipt of this decision notice.