Information Commissioner's Office

Department of Health

1 November 2016, Central government

The complainant made a freedom of information request to the Department of Health for a copy of the official ministerial diary of the Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt. The DoH refused the request under the exemption in section 35(1)(d) (operation of ministerial private office). The Commissioner’s decision is that section 35(1)(d) is engaged but the public interest in maintaining the exemption does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure. Whilst not relied upon by the DoH, the Commissioner also found that some of the information should be redacted under the section 40(2) exemption (personal information). The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. The DoH shall disclose the requested information to the complainant but may redact personal data under section 40(2) as described in paragraphs 39 and 40 below.

FOI 35: Upheld FOI 40: Not upheld