Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested a list of NHS suppliers together with fax and telephone numbers. Although the list of NHS suppliers was provided, the fax and telephone numbers were refused on the grounds that the information comprised personal data and that disclosure would breach the Data Protection Act. The Commissioner contacted the public authority which advised him that the true ground for refusal was that this information was not held by them, but rather by a private sector contractor. The Commissioner was not persuaded that the information was not held by the public authority. Moreover he was not persuaded that disclosure of the requested information would breach the Data Protection Act. He therefore upheld the complaint.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 1 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 40 - Complaint Upheld