Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant asked for the numbers of teaching staff who had been investigated in connection with offences under section 16 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and for details of the outcome of these investigations. The public authority refused to confirm or deny whether it held information falling within the scope of this request and cited the exemptions provided by sections 30(3) (investigations), 38(2) (health and safety) and 40(5) (personal information). The Commissioner finds that the public interest in the maintenance of the exemption provided by section 30(3) does not outweigh the public interest in confirmation or denial and also finds that the exemptions provided by section 38(2) and 40(5) are not engaged. Therefore, the public authority breached sections 1(1)(a) and 10(1) in failing to provide the confirmation or denial within 20 working days of receipt of the request. The Commissioner further finds that the public authority failed to comply with the procedural requirements of sections 17(1) and 17(3)(a) in its handling of the request. The public authority is required to provide to the complainant confirmation or denial of whether the information requested is held. For any information that is held, the public authority is required to either disclose this to the complainant, or to provide a refusal notice valid for the purposes of section 17 of the Act.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 17 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 30 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 38 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 40 - Complaint Upheld