Information Commissioner's Office

Student Loans Company Ltd

30 July 2008, Education (Other)

The complainant made a request to the Student Loans Company Ltd (the “SLC”) for a copy of the ‘Class Training Manual’. The SLC refused to disclose the manual, stating that it believed that this information constituted a trade secret and was therefore exempt from disclosure under section 43(1). After investigating this complaint the Commissioner decided that the manual did not constitute a trade secret. Therefore the exemption is not engaged, and the information should be disclosed. The Commissioner also decided that the SLC did not meet the requirements of section 17(1)(b). The Commissioner therefore found that the SLC had acted in breach of section 1(1)(b) of the Act. He also found that it had acted in breach of section 17(1)(b) and section 10 of the Act.

FOI 1: Upheld FOI 10: Upheld FOI 17: Upheld