Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant asked the council to provide copies of any application forms or questionnaires that had been submitted by candidates for the East Hertfordshire Independent Remuneration Panel since April 2010, redacted as appropriate. The council initially refused to provide any of the information on the basis that it was exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (-�the FOIA-�). During the investigation, the council agreed to disclose five of the responses on the basis that the individuals concerned had consented to the disclosure, with the exception of a signature on one of them. However, it still wished to withhold four responses in their entirety. The Commissioner decided that the exemption was properly applied to withhold the signature and some information in the remaining four responses however he considered that the council had incorrectly applied the exemption to other information within the responses. The Commissioner requires the council to disclose the information in the confidential annexes A and B attached to this notice. The annexes have been issued to the council only and not to the complainant as they contain withheld information. He has ordered the disclosure of that information within 35 days. He found breaches of section 10(1), 1(1)(b), 17(1) and 17(1)(c).
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 10 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 17 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 40 - Complaint Partly Upheld