Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant submitted a number of requests to Arts Council England (ACE) about its decision to disinvest in a particular publishing company. ACE provided some information in response to the first request but withheld further documents on the basis of section 36 of the Act (effective conduct of public affairs). Further requests were refused on the basis that the aggregated cost of fulfilling them would exceed the cost limit. The complainant argued that both section 36 and section 12 had been incorrectly relied upon and furthermore argued that more information fell within the scope of his initial request and such information had not been disclosed. The Commissioner has concluded that no further information falls within the scope of the request other than that located during the course of his investigation. The Commissioner has also concluded that ACE was correct to refuse the further requests on the basis that the aggregated cost of fulfilling them would have exceeded the cost limit. Finally, with the exception of one document which the Commissioner has ordered ACE to disclose, he has concluded that section 36 has been correctly relied upon. Information Tribunal appeal number EA/2010/0001 part allowed.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 12 - Complaint Not upheld, FOI 17 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 36 - Complaint Partly Upheld