Tag: Information

Telford and Wrekin Council (Local Government (District Council)): ICO 12 Sep 2016

The complainant has made several requests for information about planning, drainage and development matters from Telford and Wrekin Council (the council). Having initially handled each request separately, the council ultimately reviewed all of the requests together and treated them as vexatious under FOIA section 14 or manifestly unreasonable in accordance with EIR regulation 12(4)(b). The Commissioner’s decision is that the council was correct to apply section 14 or regulation 12(4)(b) to all of the requests. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any steps.
EIR 12(4)(b): Not upheld

[2016] UKICO FS50622051
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 25 January 2022; Ref: scu.571097

Staffordshire Police (Police and Criminal Justice): ICO 13 Sep 2016

ICO The complainant requested information relating to the outsourcing by Staffordshire Police of their staff pensions provision to a private sector contractor. Having answered previous connected requests, the police refused these requests relying on the section 14(1) FOIA exemption on the grounds that they were likely to cause a disproportionate and unjustified level of disruption, irritation and distress. The Commissioner’s decision is that Staffordshire Police acted correctly in relying on the section 14(1) FOIA exemption. However she also found that the police had delayed their initial response to the request for far too long. The Commissioner does not require Staffordshire Police to take any steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
FOI 10: Upheld FOI 14: Not upheld FOI 17: Upheld

[2016] UKICO FS50632501
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 25 January 2022; Ref: scu.571096

NHS Commissioning Board (NHS England) (Health (NHS)): ICO 15 Sep 2016

ICO The complainant has requested emails sent or received by particular named employees on particular subject matters. NHS England has failed to respond to this request for information. The Commissioner considers that NHS England breached section 10(1) FOIA in the handling of this request. The Commissioner requires the public authority to provide the complainant with a response to this request in accordance with its obligations under FOIA.
FOI 10: Upheld

[2016] UKICO FS50624751
Bailii
Freedom of Information Act 2000
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 25 January 2022; Ref: scu.571089

Ministry of Justice (Central Government) FS50629861: ICO 15 Sep 2016

ICO The complainant requested information relating to a judgment in a specific court case. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has breached sections 1(1) and 10(1) of the FOIA in that it failed to provide a valid response to the request within the statutory timeframe of 20 working days. She requires the MoJ to comply with the request or issue a valid refusal notice as set out in section 17 of the FOIA.
FOI 1: Upheld FOI 10: Upheld

[2016] UKICO FS50629861
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 25 January 2022; Ref: scu.571088

Department for Communities (Central Government): ICO 7 Sep 2016

ICO The complainant has requested information relating to the Voluntary Exit Scheme in the Northern Ireland Civil Service. The Department refused the request under section 22 since it said it intended to publish the requested information after the scheme closed. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation the Department disclosed the requested information to the complainant, but the complainant asked that the Commissioner issue a decision notice. The Commissioner’s decision is that the exemption at section 22 of the FOIA is engaged, but the public interest in maintaining that exemption does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure. However, since the requested information has been disclosed the Commissioner does not require any remedial steps to be taken.
FOI 22: Upheld

[2016] UKICO FS50611013
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 25 January 2022; Ref: scu.571063

MA (ETS – TOEIC Testing) Nigeria: UTIAC 16 Sep 2016

UTIAC (i) The question of whether a person engaged in fraud in procuring a TOEIC English language proficiency qualification will invariably be intrinsically fact sensitive.
(ii) Per curiam: where the voice data generated by TOEIC testing are those of a person other than the person claiming to have undergone the tests, there is no breach of EU or UK data protection laws.

[2016] UKUT 450 (IAC)
Bailii
England and Wales

Immigration, Information

Updated: 24 January 2022; Ref: scu.570465

Commission v Hungary – C-288/12: ECJ 8 Apr 2014

ECJ Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 95/46/EC – Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and the free movement of such data – Article 28(1) – National supervisory authorities – Independence – National legislation prematurely bringing to an end the term served by the supervisory authority – Creation of a new supervisory authority and appointment of another person as head of that authority

[2014] EUECJ C-288/12
Bailii
Directive 95/46/EC
European
Citing:
Opinion – Commission v Hungary C-288/12 ECJ 10-Dec-2013
(Bibliographic Notice) (Opinion) . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information

Updated: 24 January 2022; Ref: scu.570359

E*Trade Securities Ltd (Undertakings): ICO 3 Feb 2012

ICO An undertaking to comply with the seventh data protection principle has been signed by E*Trade Securities Ltd. This follows a report to the Commissioner concerning missing client files. The files contained limited sensitive personal data including identification documents.

[2012] UKICO 2012-44
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 24 January 2022; Ref: scu.529185

Northumbria Police (Decision Notice): ICO 13 Feb 2012

ICO The complainant requested information relating to the attempted murder of Martin McGartland in 1999 and Northumbria Police’s investigation of that incident. The Commissioner’s decision is that Northumbria Police was correct to deem the request vexatious within the meaning of section 14(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). The Commissioner however finds that Northumbria Police breached section 10 of the Act by failing to respond to the complainant’s request within the 20 day time for compliance. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any steps in this matter.
Section of Act/EIR and Finding: FOI 10 – Complaint Upheld, FOI 14 – Complaint Not upheld

[2012] UKICO FS50401605
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 24 January 2022; Ref: scu.529221

Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust (Decision Notice): ICO 13 Feb 2012

ICO The complainant requested the disclosure of any information from Rampton Hospital part of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust (the’Trust’) – that related to his client’s deceased son. The Commissioner has found that the information cannot be disclosed as it would constitute an actionable breach in the duty of confidence owed to the deceased (section 41). The Commissioner has also found that the Trust had not complied with section 17 of the FOIA when refusing the original request. The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken. Information Tribunal appeal number EA/2012/0053 dismissed.
Section of Act/EIR and Finding: FOI 17 – Complaint Upheld, FOI 41 – Complaint Not upheld

[2012] UKICO FS50416397
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 24 January 2022; Ref: scu.529223

Northumberland Care Trust (Decision Notice): ICO 2 Feb 2012

ICO The complainant requested a copy of survey notes relating to a specific building. The Valuation Office Agency (the VOA) stated that the information, if held, would be exempt under section 44(1)(a) of the FOIA and explained that the duty to confirm or deny whether the information is held does not arise under section 44(2). The Commissioner’s decision is that the VOA was correct to refuse to confirm or deny that it holds the requested information under section 44(2) of the FOIA.
Section of Act/EIR and Finding: FOI 44 – Complaint Not upheld

[2012] UKICO FER0408840
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 24 January 2022; Ref: scu.529220

Mackay and Scottish Borders Council (Archiving of Emails): SIC 16 Aug 2016

On 25 June 2015, Mr Mackay asked Scottish Borders Council (the Council) for information about archiving and retrieving emails of former Council employees. Following a review, the Council told Mr Mackay that no information was held. However, the Council’s response to a later request made Mr Mackay question whether, after all, he should have received information in response to his request of 25 June 2015. He applied to the Commissioner for a decision.
The Commissioner investigated and accepted that the Council did not hold any information covered by Mr Mackay’s request. However, she found that the Council had failed to provide Mr Mackay with reasonable advice and assistance, as required by section 15(1) of FOISA. She did not require the Council to take any action.

[2016] ScotIC 176 – 2016
Bailii
Scotland

Information

Updated: 23 January 2022; Ref: scu.569162

NHS Commissioning Board (NHS England) (Health (NHS)): ICO 25 Aug 2016

ICO The complainant has requested information relating to a contract recently awarded to Capita by NHS England to provide services under the general heading of Primary Care Services England (PCSE). NHS England has failed to respond to this request for information. The Commissioner considers that NHS England breached section 10(1) FOIA in the handling of this request. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.NHS England must provide the complainant with a response to this request in accordance with its obligations under FOIA.The public authority must take these steps within 35 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 10: Upheld

[2016] UKICO FS50640451
Bailii
Freedom of Information Act 2000
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 23 January 2022; Ref: scu.569119

Office of The Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire (Police and Criminal Justice): ICO 25 Aug 2016

ICO The complainant requested information from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Warwickshire relating to complaints made about the Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police. The OPCC provided some information within the scope of the request but refused to provide the remainder, citing the exemption under section 31(1)(g) (law enforcement) of the FOIA as its basis for doing so. The Commissioner’s decision is that the OPCC was entitled to rely on section 31(1)(g) by virtue of section 31(2)(a) and (b) to withhold the remaining requested information. The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken.
FOI 31: Not upheld

[2016] UKICO FS50621090
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 23 January 2022; Ref: scu.569124

Home Office (Central Government): ICO 31 Aug 2016

ICO The complainant has requested information relating to people transferred to the UK under the Dublin III regulations. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Home Office did not deal with the request for information in accordance with section 10 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) in that it failed to provide a response to the request within that statutory time frame of 20 working days from receipt. The Commissioner requires the Home Office to respond to the request under the FOIA.
FOI 10: Upheld

[2016] UKICO FS50631599
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 23 January 2022; Ref: scu.569112

Home Office (Central Government): ICO 22 Aug 2016

ICO The complainant requested a copy of a memorandum of understanding between the Home Office and its Saudi Arabian counterpart. The Home Office refused to disclose this information and cited the exemption provided by section 27(1)(a) (prejudice to international relations) of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Home Office cited section 27(1)(a) correctly so it was not obliged to disclose this information. However, she also finds that the Home Office breached section 17(1) of the FOIA by failing to respond to the request within 20 working days of receipt.
FOI 17: Upheld FOI 27: Not upheld

[2016] UKICO FS50634391
Bailii
England and Wales

Information

Updated: 23 January 2022; Ref: scu.569114