Department for Education
18 May 2017, Central government
The complainant has requested information from the Department for Education (DfE) relating to meetings of the Star Chamber Scrutiny Board (SCSB) regarding the addition of pupil data items ‘country of birth’ and ‘nationality’ to the National Pupil Database. The Commissioner’s decision is that the DfE is correct in stating that section 35(1)(a) of the FOIA is engaged in relation to the withheld information, however the balance of public interest, in all the circumstances of the case, lies in favour of disclosing the withheld information. The Commissioner requires the DfE to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: to disclose the withheld information to the complainant. 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 35:
Upheld
