Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested the monitoring returns of NHS Foundation Trusts provided to the public authority between 2004 and 2005 as part of its functions as the regulator of NHS foundation trusts. The authority refused to disclose the information on the grounds that the exemptions in section 33(1) (b) (audit functions), section 43 (commercial interests), section 22 (information intended for future publication) and section 21 (information available by other means) were applicable to the information. The Commissioner's decision is that information provided to the authority as part of its 2004 returns does not fall within the exemptions applied and that the information should therefore be disclosed to the complainant. As regards the returns from 2005, the Commissioner's decision is that Monitor was able to apply the exemptions in sections 33 and 43 of the Act at the time that the request was received. However, the annual reports and accounts of both the public authority and the trusts have been published since the complaint was made to the Commissioner. He has therefore decided that this information should also now be disclosed.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 21 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 22 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 33 - Complaint Partly Upheld, FOI 43 - Complaint Partly Upheld