Information Commissioner's Office

General Medical Council

23 August 2016, Local government (Other)

The complainant has requested information about meetings between the General Medical Council (GMC) and the government regarding the Shape of Training (SHoT) report. The information was withheld under section 36(2)(b)(ii) - inhibition to the free and frank exchange of views section 36(2)(c) – prejudice to the conduct of public affairs, section 41 – information provided in confidence and section 28 – prejudice to relations between administrations within the United Kingdom. The Commissioner’s decision is that GMC was entitled to withhold the majority of the information under section 36(2)(b)(ii) but there is a limited amount of information which is not exemption under either of the section 36 exemptions or those provided by sections 41 and 28. This information has been identified to the GMC in a confidential annex. The Commissioner also finds that the GMC failed to issue the complainant with a refusal notice within twenty working days of receiving the request. This is a breach of section 17(1). The Commissioner requires the public authority to disclose the information identified in the confidential annex.

FOI 28: Partly upheld FOI 36(2)(b)(ii): Partly upheld FOI 36(2)(c): Upheld FOI 41: Partly upheld