Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water. Just when you had got your head round the decisions of Judge Wikeley in Information Commissioner v Devon CC & Dransfield 2012] UKUT 440 (AAC); [2013] 1 Info LR 360 and Craven v Information Commissioner & DECC [2012] UKUT 442 (AAC); [2013] 1 Info LR 335, and the Information Commissioner has issued spangly new guidance on section 14, and the FTT has been merrily applying the new tests to a host of appeals. Just when all that had become de rigeur and everyone was settling back down…

The Court of Appeal, in the form of Briggs LJ at an oral renewal hearing, has granted Mr Dransfield and Ms Craven permission to appeal against the judgments of Judge Wikeley on the issues of the proper interpretation of section 14(1) FOIA and regulation 12(4)(b) EIR (respectively), and the application to their requests for information. Briggs LJ also granted both appellants the necessary extension of time for their appeals. He refused their applications to admit fresh evidence.

No appeal date has been set – the Order granting permission was only sent on 9 June. But the various members of 11KBW involved below (Tom Cross for the ICO, Rachel Kamm for Devon CC, James Cornwell for DECC) will enable Panopticon to ensure that it continues to cause readers to gaze in horror at their screens with the latest updates. Our work here is only just beginning…

Christopher Knight