Information Commissioner's Office

Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust

13 August 2007, Health (NHS)

The complainant requested details of the proceedings against two senior executives of the Trust who, following an internal investigation into issues of corporate governance left the employment of the Trust. The Trust refused to disclose details of the proceedings on the basis that the information was the sensitive personal data of the two executives. The Commissioner has established that the requested information is in fact the personal data of the executives rather than their sensitive personal data. Nevertheless, the Commissioner has concluded that disclosure of their personal data would constitute a breach of the data protection principles and is therefore exempt from disclosure by virtue of section 40. However, the Commissioner also decided that the total cost of the proceedings is not the personal data of the executives and therefore this should be disclosed to the applicant.

FOI 40: Partly upheld