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Annex

36 Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs

(1) This section applies to—

(a) information which is held by a government department or by the National Assembly for Wales and is not exempt information by virtue of section 35, and

(b) information which is held by any other public authority.

(2) Information to which this section applies is exempt information if, in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, disclosure of the information under this Act—

(a) would, or would be likely to, prejudice—

(i) the maintenance of the convention of the collective responsibility of Ministers of the Crown, or

(ii) the work of the Executive Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly, or

(iii) the work of the executive committee of the National Assembly for Wales,

(b) would, or would be likely to, inhibit—

(i) the free and frank provision of advice, or

(ii) the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation, or

(c) would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs.

(3) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise in relation to information to which this section applies (or would apply if held by the public authority) if, or to the extent that, in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, compliance with section 1(1)(a) would, or would be likely to, have any of the effects mentioned in subsection (2).

Factors for withholding

Factors for disclosure

  • High probability that the information could be used to infiltrate security systems.

  • Consequent prejudice to security of pupil and staff data.

  • Council's accountability in respect of value for money

Reasons why public interest favours withholding information

  • It has been demonstrated that information on certain aspects of ICT provision can be used in `phishing' or other infiltration attacks on secure ICT systems.

  • The security system for the Council's primary and secondary schools is intended to keep young people secure whilst using the internet. A breach of this would have serious consequences in respect of the Council's duty of care to pupils and staff.

  • The information has small relevance to accountability in terms of value for money and this information is already assessed at audit.

  • Consequently the information in respect of the supplier is refused on the grounds of prejudice to the conduct of public affairs.

This exemption has been approved by the authorised officer, in this case the Head of Legal Services