Summary: The complainant has requested copies of declaration of interests for senior officers at the council. The council initially withheld the information under section 22 because it stated that it intended to publish the information at some point in the future. On review however it decided that that had only been decided after the request was received and so section 22 could not apply. The council therefore disclosed some sections of the information but withheld other information because it was the personal data of its officers and its disclosure would breach the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998. It therefore applied the exemption in section 40(2) of the Act. The council also asked the complainant to clarify some of the information he requested. It was however unable to establish what information the complainant wished, in spite of the complainant trying to clarify what information he wanted. The Commissioner-™s decision is that Cheshire West and Chester Council was correct to apply the exemption in section 40(2) to the information which it redacted.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 40 - Complaint Not upheld