Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: On 7 January 2005 the complainant requested details of money spent by the university obtaining legal advice in relation to two disciplinary cases. The university confirmed that the information was held, but did not release it citing s.42 (legal professional privilege) and later s.41 (information provided in confidence). The complainant requested a review of the decision, and following this was provided with basic details of expenditure in one of the two cases. Having investigated the case the Commissioner is satisfied that the s.42 exemption is engaged, and that the public interest lies in favour of maintaining the exemption. However, he also found that the information subsequently provided following the review was not held at the time of the initial request, and so the University failed to comply with section 1(1)(a) by misleadingly suggesting they held information on both cases. Finally, as section 42 was engaged section 41 was not considered further for the purposes of the Decision Notice. The Infomation Tribunal has ruled on this decision and has upheld this appeal.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 42 - Complaint Not upheld, FOI 41 - Complaint Not upheld