Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested the sum saved at a school in South Wales by introducing a pilot scheme to collect and administer dinner money. The Council refused to supply the information applying the exemption in section 22 of the Act, on the basis that it intended to publish the figure in a final report on the scheme. However, the Council later changed its mind and decided it was inappropriate to include the figure in the final report. After the Commissioner's intervention the Council disclosed the information to the complainant on an informal basis, but the complainant still requested a decision made on the Council's response to her request. The Commissioner's decision is that section 22 was not applicable to the information as it was not responsible in all of the circumstances of the case to withhold the information from the complainant at the time of the request. The complainant also felt that the Council has breached section 11 of the Act by not providing the information in the manner requested. The Commissioner's decision is that the request did not specify any particular manner of response, and hence the Council were complaint with section 11 of the Act.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 22 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 11 - Complaint Not upheld