ICO The complainant requested information from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) concerning the takeover of Chelsea Football Club in 2003. DCMS refused to release this information because in the reasoned opinion of a qualified person it was exempt under section 36(2)(b) of the Act. Also, it argued that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information. The complainant requested an internal review and following the review DCMS maintained its original decision. While the complaint was waiting to be investigated and following a decision by the Commissioner in another DCMS case, the department released some of the previously withheld information while maintaining that the remaining information was exempt and disclosure was not in the public interest. The Commissioner’s decision is that DCMS correctly applied section 36(2)(b) to the withheld information. However, in respect of some of the information, he believes the public interest in maintaining the exemption does not outweigh the public interest in disclosing the information. The public authority has therefore breached section 1(1)(b) in failing to disclose the requested information.
Section of Act/EIR and Finding: FOI 36 – Complaint Partly Upheld
Citations:
[2009] UKICO FS50186903
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 11 June 2022; Ref: scu.532401