Dear Mr Davis

SUBJECT: Freedom of Information Request

Thank you for your email of 2 March 2010 in which you asked for copies of the interview notes taken by the panel when interviewing prospective candidates for the vacancy of Information Commissioner from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

Your request has been passed to me because I have responsibility for answering requests which relate to sponsorship of the Information Commissioner's Office and has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

I can confirm that the Department holds the information you are seeking, but I am unable to disclose it to you. This is because the information is the personal data of another person, and disclosure would be unfair to that other person who is the subject of the data.

Section 40(2) of the FOIA states that personal data relating to third parties (i.e. a party other than the person requesting the information) is exempt information if one of the conditions in Section 40(3) is satisfied. It is my view that disclosure of the interview notes would breach one or more of the Data Protection Principles in the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). For example, disclosure would breach the fair processing principle, as it would be unfair on the people to whom the personal data relates, and they would have had a reasonable expectation that the Department would hold the notes of their interviews in confidence. In addition, if candidates in the interviews suspected that the deliberations would be made public, they may have been less inclined to be candid in expressing their opinions. We believe it is important to maintain the confidentiality of the appointment process.

As part of our obligations under the FOIA, the Ministry of Justice has an independent review process. If you are dissatisfied with this decision, you may write to request an internal review. The internal review will be carried out by someone who did not make the original decision, and they will re-assess how the Department handled the original request.

If you wish to request an internal review, please write or send an email to the Data Access and Compliance Unit within two months of the date of this letter, at the following address:

Data Access and Compliance Unit

Information Directorate

Ministry of Justice

1st Floor, Zone 1C

Post point 1.41

102 Petty France

London

SW1H 9AJ

e-mail: [email address]

If you remain dissatisfied after an internal review decision, you have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner's Office under Section 50 of the FOIA. You can contact the Information Commissioner's Office at the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Internet: www.ico.gov.uk/Global/contact_us.aspx

Yours sincerely,

Robert Lennox