Information Commissioner's Office

Department for Education

28 January 2016, Central government

The complainant has requested information relating to the costs associated with professional conduct panel hearings. The Department for Education (DfE) complied with some of the requests but considered that the information relating to two requests, which form the focus of this notice, was exempt information under section 43(2) (commercial interests) of FOIA. Section 43(2) is qualified by the public interest test and the DfE found that on balance the public interest favoured maintaining the exemption. The Commissioner has determined that neither of the two requests engages section 43(2) of FOIA and therefore requires the DfE to disclose the specified information to ensure compliance with the legislation. 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 pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.

FOI 43: Upheld