First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber)

FT/EA/2024/0207 - [2025] UKFTT 01276 (GRC)

Fecha: 31-Oct-2025

The grounds of appeal

The grounds of appeal

22.

The Appellant considered that the Commissioner was wrong to conclude, in the Decision Notice, that the Authority was entitled to withhold the Withheld Information pursuant to regulation 12(5)(e). The material aspects of his grounds of appeal were (in essence) based on his views that:

Orsted was Cobalt Energy’s client and Cobalt Energy should not be able to dictate to the Authority what can and cannot be publicly disclosed under FOIA/the EIRs;

it is in the public interest to know if NMC batteries (see paragraph 63) were installed at the Site;

it is in the public interest for all matters relating to the Fire, including technical information, to be in the public domain and for the Authority, as a public authority, to be fully transparent; and

the Commissioner correctly identified that there is a public interest in information relating to the safety of battery energy storage sites being disclosed in order to highlight any identifiable risks associated with those sites but he wrongly considered that Cobalt Energy’s commercial interests outweighed the arguments regarding the safety of the British public and its firefighters.