Freedom of Information Exemptions
The Council may refuse to disclose information where one of the following exemptions applies:-
Absolute Exemptions
| 21 |
Information accessible to applicant by other means |
| 23 |
Information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security matters |
| 32 |
Court records, etc |
| 34 |
Parliamentary privilege |
| 40 |
Personal information (covered by Data Protection Act 1998) or where the information concerns a third party and disclosure would breach one of the Data Protection Principles |
| 41 |
Information provided in confidence. |
| 44 |
Prohibitions on disclosure where a disclosure is prohibited by an enactment or would constitute contempt of court. |
Qualified Exemptions, subject to the public interest test
| 22 |
Information intended for future publication |
| 24 |
National security (other than information supplied by or relating to named security organisations, where the duty to consider disclosure in the public interest does not arise.) |
| 26 |
Defence |
| 27 |
International relations |
| 28 |
Relations within the United Kingdom |
| 29 |
The economy |
| 30 |
Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities |
| 31 |
Law enforcement |
| 33 |
Audit Functions |
| 35 |
Formulation of government policy, etc |
| 36 |
Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs (except information held by the House of Commons or the House of Lords) |
| 37 |
Communications with Her Majesty, etc and honours |
| 38 |
Health and safety |
| 39 |
Environmental information as this can be accessed through the Environmental Information Regulations. |
| 40 |
Personal information - People cannot access personal data about themselves under the Freedom of Information Act, this is to be requested under the Data Protection Act 1998. Personal data about other people cannot be released if to do so would breach the Data Protection Act. |
| 42 |
Legal professional privilege |
| 43 |
Commercial interests | The Public Interest Test
The Public Interest Test is where a public authority considers that the public interest in withholding the information requested outweighs the public interest in releasing it. If the public interest test is upheld the council will inform the applicant of its reasons, unless to do so would mean releasing the exempt information.
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