The complainant requested information held by DCLG relating to the Government decision to remove the 85 year rule from the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). DCLG withheld some information under section 42 (legal professional privilege) of the Act, and withheld other information under section 35(1)(a) (formulation and development of government policy) of the Act. The Commissioner is satisfied that DCLG applied section 42 correctly to the withheld information in relation to part 1 of his request. In respect of part 2 of the request the Commissioner decided that DCLG had failed to correctly cite section 42 which the Commissioner determined was not engaged. The Commissioner found that section 35 was engaged in respect of part 2 of his request for information about internal discussions but that the public interest in maintaining the exemption did not outweigh the public interest in disclosure. Accordingly the Commissioner orders disclosure of the information previously withheld under section 35, subject to redaction of junior officials’ names. The Commissioner also recorded a number of procedural breaches in relation to DCLG’s handling of the request.
Section of Act/EIR and Finding: FOI 10 – Complaint Upheld, FOI 17 – Complaint Upheld, FOI 35 – Complaint Upheld, FOI 42 – Complaint Partly Upheld
Citations:
[2010] UKICO FS50146996
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 26 March 2022; Ref: scu.531492