Summary: The complainant requested the amounts paid to Assistant Directors and above from the public authority-™s Department of Community and Children-™s Service in severance and/or redundancy packages in five financial years. He asked for the information to be anonymised. The public authority explained that it had paid money in two of the five years to one individual in each year. However, it explained that it could not provide the amount paid as it was unable to anonymise the data. This was because the information in any form remained the personal data of those individuals and the information was therefore exempt by virtue of section 40(2). The Commissioner has considered the application of section 40(2) in this case and has determined that it was correct. He therefore dismisses the complaint and requires no remedial steps to be taken.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 40 - Complaint Not upheld