Questions about town and parish councils
Follow Councillor Q&A on X/Twitter

Follow us on X/Twitter

0 votes
Resident has spent months quarrelling with another resident and this has caused much disruption in past meetings which I wish to draw a close to. This looking at emails will just open another can of worms and is causing ill feeling towards her already.
by (120 points)

3 Answers

0 votes
Not everything is subject to FoI requests. And a request can be refused as vexatious, although this approach often leads to an unsatisfactory outcome. However, it's certainly worth considering whether the emails are subject to FoI - the commissioner's office is usually helpful in settling difficult cases.
by (33.0k points)
0 votes

But presumably the resident could ask to see any personal information about her (including personal opinions expressed by the Chair or others) under the Data Protection Act 2018?  I think it would be questionable whether you could treat such a request as vexatious.

by (2.9k points)
0 votes
A vexatious request is one which is framed in an angry or aggressive tone or is judged to be deliberately designed to cause stress or anxiety.  This could include deluging a public body with a large volume of repeated requests for the same information. Essentially the E mails have to be provided ( possibly part redacted) unless the Council can demonstrate a valid exclusion by reference to the appropriate article in the Freedom Of Information Act. Vexatious requests are one such exclusion.
by (34.9k points)

Welcome to Town & Parish Councillor Q&A, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of the community. All genuine questions and answers are welcome. Follow us on Twitter to see the latest questions as they are asked - click on the image button above or follow @TownCouncilQA. Posts from new members may be delayed as we are unfortunately obliged to check each one for spam. Spammers will be blacklisted.

You may find the following links useful:

We have a privacy policy and a cookie policy.

Clares Cushions logo Peacock cushion

Clare's Cushions creates beautiful hand made cushions and home accessories from gorgeous comtemporary fabrics. We have a fantastic selection of prints including Sophie Allport and Orla Kiely designs and most covers can be ordered either alone or with a cushion inner. Buying new cushions is an affordable and effective way to update your home interior, they're also a great gift idea. Visit our site now

2,896 questions
5,619 answers
7,954 comments
10,028 users
Google Analytics Alternative