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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Information Commissioner's Office >> Arts Council England (Other) [2023] UKICO 245350 (7 November 2023)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKICO/2023/245350.html
Cite as: [2023] UKICO 245350
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Arts Council England
The complainant has requested information about a painting; the Portrait of Mai (Omai). Arts Council England (ACE) disclosed some relevant information and initially relied on section 40 (personal data), section 41 (information provided in confidence) and section 43 (commercial interests) of FOIA to withhold a valuation report and other information. ACE later also applied section 36 (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs) of FOIA to the majority of the information it confirmed that it’s withholding. ACE then confirmed that it’s withholding the remainder of the information in scope under section 21 (already accessible to the applicant), section 22 (intended for future publication) and 40. The Commissioner’s decision is that ACE correctly applied sections 36(2)(b)(i) and 36(2)(c) of FOIA to information it’s withholding under those exemptions ie: the Mould valuation report The majority of the information in Annex A1 (‘Annex A Information required by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest in order to consider case referred’) and Annex B together with the Applicant’s application, Annex A2 (‘Annex A Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA)’); and the Applicant’s valuation report. The majority of the information in the expert adviser’s statement, which forms part of Annex A2, is exempt under section 21(1) of FOIA; however, some of that information doesn’t engage section 21(1).The remaining information in the expert adviser’s statement isn’t exempt from disclosure under section 22(1) or 40(2). There was no breach of section 10(3) or 17(3) in respect of the timeliness of ACE’s response.The Commissioner requires ACE to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation:Disclose the application questions in Annex A1 and Annex B.Disclose the small amount of information in the expert adviser’s statement in Annex A2 that the Commissioner has found section 21 can’t be applied to. This information is given in a Confidential Annex to this notice.Disclose the expert adviser’s name, role and institution in the expert adviser’s statement in Annex A2.FOI 10: Complaint not upheld FOI 21: Complaint partly upheld FOI 40: Complaint upheld FOI 17: Complaint not upheld FOI 36: Complaint not upheld FOI 22: Complaint upheld
Decision notice: 245350