Information Commissioner's Office

Standards for England

1 August 2005, Central government

The complainant requested information relating to the investigation of a complaint about him. The Standards Board refused this request on the grounds the information consisted of personal data, some relating to the complainant and some relating to third parties, and that in either case disclosure would breach the Data Protection Act. Having conducted an internal review, the Board also cited additional exemptions, namely those covering information subject to legal professional privilege and information whose disclosure is prohibited by law. The Commissioner considered that the public authority had handled the request correctly and that it was entitled to rely upon the exemptions cited. The complainant has lodged an appeal.

FOI 40: Not upheld