Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested all information held by the public authority relating to its investigation of a case of sheep killing. The public authority refused the request, citing the exemptions provided by sections 31(1)(a) (prevention or detection of crime), 31(1)(b) (apprehension or prosecution of offenders), 40(2) (personal information) and 41(1) (information provided in confidence). Following the intervention of the Commissioner the public authority amended its stance, citing the exemption provided by section 30(1)(a)(i) (investigations) and retracting its earlier citing of sections 31(1)(a), 31(1)(b) and 41(1). The Commissioner finds that section 30(1)(a)(i) is engaged and that the public interest in the maintenance of this exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure. As this conclusion relates to the entirety of the information held by the public authority that falls within the scope of the request, it has not been necessary to go on to consider section 40(2). The Commissioner has also found that the public authority failed to comply with section 10(1) when responding more than 20 working days from receipt of the request and section 17(1) when issuing an inadequate refusal notice. Information Tribunal appeal EA/2009/0012 allowed.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 17 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 30 - Complaint Not upheld