ICO The complainant made a request to Ofcom for copies of correspondence relating to a complaint it had received from Lord Ashcroft KCMG about unfair treatment in an edition of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. The public authority initially refused the request under section 44 of the Act (Prohibitions on disclosure) by virtue of section 393(1) of the Communications Act 2003. After carrying out an internal review Ofcom released some of the information but other information continued to be withheld under section 44, section 36(2)(b)(ii) (Free and frank exchange of views) and section 40(2) (personal information). The Commissioner has investigated the complaint and has found that section 44 applies to most of the withheld information. For the remaining information the Commissioner found that section 36(2)(b)(ii) was not engaged but that section 40(2) did apply. Therefore the Commissioner has decided that the information should be withheld. The Commissioner also found that in its handling of the request the public authority breached section 17(1) (refusal of a request) but requires no steps to be taken.
Section of Act/EIR and Finding: FOI 17 – Complaint Upheld, FOI 40 – Complaint Not upheld, FOI 44 – Complaint Not upheld
Citations:
[2011] UKICO FS50328208
Links:
Statutes:
Communications Act 2003 44 393(1)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information, Media
Updated: 17 May 2022; Ref: scu.530427
