Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested copies of correspondence between the public authority and the National Audit Office regarding £20 million in savings that the National Audit Office had identified could be made in stroke care in a report published in 2005. The public authority refused the request under section 36. The Commissioner has concluded that a significant amount of information held by the public authority fell outside the scope of the request. In relation to the information that was within the scope of the request, he decided that, whilst section 36 was engaged, the public interest in maintaining the exemption did not outweigh the public interest in disclosure. He has consequently ordered the disclosure of the withheld information that fell within the scope of the request. The Commissioner also identified some procedural breaches of the Act by the public authority including a failure to identify the part of section 36 that it was relying on to exempt the information from disclosure.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 17 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 36 - Complaint Upheld