Information Commissioner's Office

George Eliot Hospital Trust

2 August 2017, Health (NHS)

The complainant requested emails and other information relating to the Sustainability and Transformation Planning (STP) process. The public authority refused to provide the complainant with the requested emails, citing section 12 of the FOIA (Cost) as its basis for doing so. In relation to other STP related information the public authority refused the request citing sections 43(2) (commercial interests), 41 (information provided in confidence) and 36 (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) as its reason for refusal. The Commissioner’s decision is that the public authority has correctly applied section 12 of the FOIA to the request for emails. In respect of other STP related information the Commissioner finds that sections 36(2)(b)(i) and (ii) of the FOIA are engaged and that the public interest in disclosure is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the exemption. The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken.

FOI 12: Not upheld FOI 36: Not upheld