Information Commissioner's Office

Natural England

8 January 2018, Education (Other)

The complainant has requested information associated with the licenced control of badgers to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis. Having provided a response originally, during the course of the Commissioner’s investigation Natural England (NE) provided a fresh response that addressed the complainant’s outstanding concerns. NE considers it has now released all the relevant information that it holds and that the information it has redacted is exempt from disclosure under regulation 12(3) of the EIR (personal data), regulation 12(5)(a) (public safety) and regulation 12(5)(d) (confidentiality of proceedings). NE also considers it has complied with regulation 6(1)(form and format). The Commissioner’s decision is as follows: NE has made available all the information it holds within the scope of the complainant’s requests other than some information which it has redacted (“the withheld information”) and has therefore complied with regulation 5(1). NE has not breached regulation 6(1) in respect of the form and format in which it released some of the requested information. Regulation 12(3) can be applied to the all the information that NE has withheld because this information can be categorised as the personal data of third parties and it would not be fair to disclose it. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.

EIR 5(1): Not upheld EIR 6: Not upheld EIR 12(3): Not upheld