Corporate Services Division
Information Management and Central
Advisory Branch
Room A5.16
Castle Buildings
Stormont Estate
BELFAST BT4 3SR
Tel: 028 9052 0088 (Ext 20088)
Email: xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Ben Brown
Your Ref:
request-117194-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Our Ref:
FOI OFMDFM /
and
2012-0074
request-117341-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Date:
2 July 2012
Dear Mr Brown
Freedom of Information Act 2000 I refer to your email of 21 May 2012 which contained 20 requests for information and
to your later email of 23 May 2012 which contained a further 11 requests.
I am writing to confirm that OFMDFM has now considered your requests and wishes
to advise you that the information cannot be disclosed as it is being withheld under
section 36(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act (prejudice to the effective conduct
of public affairs).
Upon examination of your requests a common theme emerged - Assembly
Questions. In applying the section 36(2)(c) exemption, we have had to balance the
public interest in withholding this information against the public interest in disclosing
it. The factors we considered when deciding where the public interest lay are
explained below.
Arguments in favour of disclosing the information:
• There is a presumption of a general public interest in disclosure.
• Disclosure would provide information on issues raised, but not yet answered,
in the Assembly.
Arguments in favour of withholding the information
• Release (under the FOI Act) of draft responses still to be cleared by Ministers
would undermine the proceedings of the Assembly, and would therefore
prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.
• It would not be in the public interest to release unvalidated information, and in
a manner which would circumvent conventional Assembly practices.
While disclosure of the information may inform the public about certain issues which
have been raised in the Assembly, there is a particularly strong public interest in
maintaining Assembly protocols. Release of this information under the FOI Act,
particularly in its current draft form, would seriously undermine Assembly business,
both in relation to the processing of questions raised by Members of the Legislative
Assembly, and to the proceedings of the Assembly as a whole.
After weighing the various factors in favour of disclosing and withholding the
information, on balance we believe that it is not in the public interest to disclose this
information. It is therefore the decision of the Department that under section 36(2)(c)
of the FOI Act, the arguments in favour of non-disclosure of this information outweigh
the arguments in favour of disclosure.
If you are unhappy with the level of service you have received in relation to our
handling of this request, you may ask for an internal review within two calendar
months of the date of this letter. You should contact –
Director of HR and Corporate Services
Room E4.20
Castle Buildings
Stormont Estate
BELFAST
BT4 3SR
Tel -
028 9052 0694
Email -
xxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you then have the right
to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at –
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
WILMSLOW
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
The Information Commissioner will not investigate a complaint unless the internal
review procedure outlined above has been completed.
Please contact me if you have any queries about this letter.
Yours sincerely,
Karen Davidson
Information Management and Central Advisory Branch