28 September 2015, Local government (City council)
The complainant requested information about the Head of Internal Audit and information with regards to staff suspensions. Leeds City Council (the council) provided some information and initially refused the remaining under section 40(5) of the FOIA – to neither confirm nor deny – and section 21 of the FOIA - information reasonably accessible by other means. It later amended its refusal under section 40(5) to instead rely on section 40(2) of the FOIA – third party personal data. During the Commissioner’s investigations, the council amended its refusal back to section 40(5) of the FOIA and no longer sought to rely on section 21 of the FOIA, providing the information to that part of the request. The complainant asked the Commissioner to determine the council’s reliance on section 40(5) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council has correctly relied on section 40(5) of the FOIA. The Commissioner does not require the council to take any steps.
FOI 40: Not upheld