Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant has requested from the Department for Education (-�DfE-�) copies of the completed application forms for Free Schools submitted between 2010-2012 and copies of the subsequent acceptance or rejection letters. The DfE withheld the requested information under section 36(2)(c) (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs). The Commissioner-�s decision is that section 36(2)(c) does not apply to the information withheld by the DfE as the public interest in withholding the information does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure. The Commissioner requires the public authority to disclose to the complainant: (i) copies of all of the acceptance and rejection letters sent by the DfE between 1 January 2010 and 1 October 2012 in relation to applications to set up Free Schools; (ii) copies of all of the expressions of interest which were successful in Wave One and the successful applications in Wave Two and Wave Three except for the expressions of interest or applications where the school was not open by 1 October 2012; and (iii) copies of all of the unsuccessful expressions of interest for Wave One and the unsuccessful application forms for Wave Two. The DfE is not required to disclose the names, addresses or other personal data of individuals contained within any of the above documents where it believes that the information is exempt from disclosure under section 40(2).
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 36 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 40 - Complaint Not upheld