Information Commissioner's Office

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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Information Commissioner's Office >> Department for Work and Pensions (Central government) [2024] UKICO 278083 (12 June 2024)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKICO/2024/278083.html
Cite as: [2024] UKICO 278083

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Department for Work and Pensions

The complainant submitted a two part request to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) seeking equalities information in relation to: (1) DWP’s proposed policy to remove the Work Capability Assessment and (2) information about DWP’s equality publication duties. DWP refused to provide the information for part one of the request arguing it was exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 35(1)(a) of FOIA (formulation or development of government policy) and that the public interest favoured maintaining the exemption. In relation to part two, DWP argued that the information was exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 21 (information accessible to the applicant by other means) and section 22 (information intended for future publication). The Commissioner’s decision is that the withheld information in part one of the request is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 35(1)(a) but the public interest favours disclosure of the information. For part two, the information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 21. The Commissioner requires the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: • Disclose the information falling within the scope of request 1. The public authority must take these steps within 30 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(1)(a): Complaint upheld FOI 21: Complaint not upheld

Decision notice: 278083