Information Commissioner's Office

Calderdale Council

24 November 2005, Local government (District council)

The complainant requested information from the Council relating to the recruitment of social workers from Australia and New Zealand. Some of the information requested by the complainant was released but the Council declined to disclose the names of the officers who went abroad, citing section 40 (personal data). It also refused to disclose other details citing section 42 (legal professional privilege). The Commissioner decided that the names of the officers did constitute personal data but disclosing those names would not breach any of the data protection principles, therefore the exemption provided by section 40 (2) was not applicable in this case. In relation to section 42 the Commissioner decided the legal advice was covered by legal professional privilege but in this case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosure.

FOI 40: Upheld FOI 42: Not upheld