02 February 2013
Mrs J Giggins
Strategic Support
By email
West Berkshire District Council
Council Offices
Market Street Newbury
Berkshire RG14 5LD
Our Ref: FoI/2013/17
Your Ref:
Please ask for: Sue Broughton
Direct Line: 01635 519747
e-mail: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mrs Giggins,
Request for information: Letter to the ICO
You have requested;
1. The letter from West Berkshire Council to the ICO dated 12 June
2012.
2. The undated letter sent by the ICO in response on 8th August
2012.
3. A copy of the letter from the ICO requesting permission to
disclose the information.
4. West Berkshire Council's reply.
5. Any subsequent correspondence on the matter.
It is our view that some of the requested information falls within the exemption at
S36(2)(b) as information the release of which would be likely to inhibit the free and frank
provision of advice or the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of
deliberation. The application of this exemption has been considered by the Monitoring
Officer, David Holling, Head of Legal Services, as the ‘qualified person’ under the Act,
and it is his reasonable opinion that for the majority of the information the exemption is
engaged. A copy of the exemption is appended.
We are therefore refusing your request for the letter from West Berkshire Council dated
12th June 2012, the undated letter sent in response by the ICO on 8th August 2012, and a
part of the Council’s response to the ICO’s letter of consultation on your Data Protection
request to the ICO. I have supplied the remaining information in a separate attachment.
In response to question 5 there was no subsequent correspondence.
If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you may ask for an
internal review. You should contact David Lowe, Scrutiny & Partnerships Manager,
Strategic Support, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14 5LD, email
xxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx within forty working days if you wish to request a review. If you
are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you 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
www.ico.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Sue Broughton
Information Management Officer
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).
(4) In relation to statistical information, subsections (2) and (3) shall have effect with the
omission of the words “in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person”.
(5) In subsections (2) and (3) “qualified person”—
(a) in relation to information held by a government department in the charge of a Minister
of the Crown, means any Minister of the Crown,
(b) in relation to information held by a Northern Ireland department, means the Northern
Ireland Minister in charge of the department,
(c) in relation to information held by any other government department, means the
commissioners or other person in charge of that department,
(d) in relation to information held by the House of Commons, means the Speaker of that
House,
(e) in relation to information held by the House of Lords, means the Clerk of the
Parliaments,
(f) in relation to information held by the Northern Ireland Assembly, means the Presiding
Officer,
(g) in relation to information held by the National Assembly for Wales, means the
Assembly First Secretary,
(h) in relation to information held by any Welsh public authority other than the Auditor
General for Wales, means—
(i) the public authority, or
(ii) any officer or employee of the authority authorised by the Assembly First Secretary,
(i) in relation to information held by the National Audit Office, means the Comptroller and
Auditor General,
(j) in relation to information held by the Northern Ireland Audit Office, means the
Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland,
(k) in relation to information held by the Auditor General for Wales, means the Auditor
General for Wales,
(l) in relation to information held by any Northern Ireland public authority other than the
Northern Ireland Audit Office, means—
(i) the public authority, or
(ii) any officer or employee of the authority authorised by the First Minister and deputy
First Minister in Northern Ireland acting jointly,
(m) in relation to information held by the Greater London Authority, means the Mayor of
London,
(n) in relation to information held by a functional body within the meaning of the [1999 c.
29.] Greater London Authority Act 1999, means the chairman of that functional body, and
(o) in relation to information held by any public authority not falling within any of
paragraphs (a) to (n), means—
(i) a Minister of the Crown,
(ii) the public authority, if authorised for the purposes of this section by a Minister of the
Crown, or
(iii) any officer or employee of the public authority who is authorised for the purposes of
this section by a Minister of the Crown.
(6) Any authorisation for the purposes of this section—
(a) may relate to a specified person or to persons falling within a specified class,
(b) may be general or limited to particular classes of case, and
(c) may be granted subject to conditions.
(7) A certificate signed by the qualified person referred to in subsection (5)(d) or (e)
above certifying that in his reasonable opinion—
(a) disclosure of information held by either House of Parliament, or
(b) compliance with section 1(1)(a) by either House,
would, or would be likely to, have any of the effects mentioned in subsection (2) shall be
conclusive evidence of that fact.