Information Commissioner's Office

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency

17 September 2007, Education (Other)

The complainant requested details of a Vehicle & Operator Services Agency (“VOSA”) examiner’s maintenance report and findings. VOSA refused this request under section 31 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the “Act”). During the course of the investigation, VOSA also submitted that the information was exempt under section 32 of the Act. Having considered VOSA’s submissions the Commissioner has decided that the exemptions cited by VOSA were not applicable. However he has decided that the information was exempt under section 40 of the Act because it constituted personal data of the subject of the report and the disclosure of the information would breach the Data Protection Act 1998 (“DPA”). In addition, he has decided that the public authority had breached section 17(1) of the Act as it failed to adequately explain in its refusal notice which part of section 31 it was relying on and why it applied.

FOI 17: Upheld