Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant made a request for documents containing discussions in respect of the modernising medical careers initiative with emphasis on information held in relation to proposed variations to the Consultant contract. The public authority disclosed some information but specifically withheld submissions made to Ministers by civil servants in respect of the Consultant contract by virtue of the exemption contained in section 35(1)(a) of the Act. It also withheld the names of specific civil servants by virtue of the exemptions contained in section 40(3)(a)(i). The Commissioner finds that section 35(1)(a) was correctly engaged. However he has decided that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption did not outweigh the public interest in disclosure. He also finds that section 40(3)(a)(i) was correctly engaged, and that the public authority breached sections 1, 10, and 17 of the Act.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 1 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 17 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 35 - Complaint Partly Upheld, FOI 40 - Complaint Not upheld