Information Commissioner's Office

General Dental Council

18 August 2015, Local government (Other)

The complainant made a freedom of information request to the General Dental Council (GDC) for details of legal fees incurred in relation to its investigating committee. The GDC disclosed some of the requested information but withheld some information under the exemption in section 43(2) (commercial interests) and found that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosure. The Commissioner’s decision is that section 43(2) is not engaged. The Commissioner requires that the GDC shall disclose to the complainant the information withheld under the section 43(2) exemption. The public authority must take these steps within 35 calendar days of the date of this Decision Notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court (or the Court of Session in Scotland) pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.

FOI 43: Upheld