Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, twelve items of information that related to how his complaint and other complaints of his family were handled by the Trust. The Trust provided some information, explained that it did not hold other information and withheld other information by virtue of sections 12 [the costs limit], 21 [information reasonably accessible to the applicant], 40(1) [first party personal data], 40(2) [third party personal data] and 44(1) [a statutory bar prohibits its disclosure]. The Trust was relying on the statutory bar found in section 15 of the Health Service Commissioners Act 1995 that prohibited information obtained by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman for the purposes of her investigations. The complainant requested an internal review and referred the case to the Commissioner. He explained that he was not content that he had received all the appropriate information in relation to the information that had been disclosed and that he believed that the exemptions had been applied inappropriately. He agreed that the Commissioner need not consider the operation of section 40(1) and to a limited extent section 40(2) during the course of his investigation. Further information was disclosed and the Commissioner has found that the Trust has applied sections 21(1), 40(2) and 44(1) appropriately to the information that it continues to withhold. He has also found a number of procedural breaches, but requires no remedial steps to be taken in this case. Information Tribunal appeal number EA/2011/0183 part allowed.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 17 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 21 - Complaint Not upheld, FOI 40 - Complaint Not upheld, FOI 44 - Complaint Not upheld