Author: Anya Proops KC

DISCLOSING CONSULTANTS’ REPORTS UNDER THE EIR

Posted on | by Anya Proops KC

Yesterday, the Information Tribunal promulgated an important decision on the application of certain exceptions in the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), South Gloucestershire Council v Information Commissioner & Bovis (EA/2009/32). The case concerned an application made by a developer (Bovis) for disclosure of information contained in a number of consultants’ appraisals. The appraisals had been commissioned by the council in respect of a proposed section 106 planning agreement. The agreement in turn related to a major development which Bovis was proposing to undertake in the council’s area. The appraisals had been commissioned in essence in order to assist the council in its negotiations with Bovis in respect of the section 106 agreement. The council had refused disclosure of some of the information in the appraisals, which largely consisted of financial information, on the basis that that information fell within the exceptions provided for under r. 12(4)(e) EIR (the internal communications exception) and r. 12(5)(e) EIR (the confidential/commercial information exception). The Commissioner held that neither of these exceptions was engaged.

 

On appeal by the council, the Tribunal held that the circumstances of the case were such that the council had not been entitled to treat the appraisals as an ‘internal communication’ for the purposes of r. 12(4)(e) (cf. the Tribunal’s decision in Secretary of State for Transport v Information Commissioner (EA/2008/0052): draft report on transport policy prepared by independent third party was an ‘internal communication’, particularly in view of the extent to which the third party had been ‘embedded’ in the public authority). However, the Tribunal went on to allow the council’s appeal on the basis that the information in the appraisals did constitute confidential, commercial information falling within the ambit of r. 12(5)(e). The Tribunal also held that the public interest balance weighed in favour maintaining the exception and, accordingly, that the council had been lawfully entitled to withhold the requested information.

 

In reaching the conclusion that r. 12(5)(e) was engaged in respect of the information, the Tribunal rejected arguments advanced by the Commissioner that r. 12(5)(e) would only be engaged in respect of confidential information where the duty of confidence was owed by the public authority to a third party. It held that r. 12(5)(e) applied equally to the authority’s own confidential information. Notably, in finding that the public interest balance weighed in favour of the information being withheld, the Tribunal relied in particular on the volume of information which the council had already disclosed relating to the section 106 process and the planning process more generally.

Proving Identity and Privacy – Scottish Consultation Paper

Posted on | by Anya Proops KC

The Scottish government has recently published a consultation paper on certain draft identity management and privacy principles. The draft principles have been developed with a view to ensuring that public services in Scotland are better placed to manage the process of proving identity (e.g. in the case of benefit claims) in a way that protects individual privacy. The deadline for responses is 23 November 2009

GOVERNMENT REPORT ON APPLICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION DIRECTIVE

Posted on | by Anya Proops KC

Member States of the EU are subject to an obligation to report to the European Commission on the application of European Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information. Last week, the UK Government submitted its report to the Commission. The report highlights the Government’s experience of the application of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 since they came into force in the UK on 1 January 2005. It is worth noting in particular Annex 1 to the report which contains a summary of tribunal decisions on the definition of ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Regulations. The Government is inviting comments on the report from members of the public.

House of Lords Grants Permission in Ofcom

Posted on | by Anya Proops KC

Last month the House of Lords granted the Information Commissioner permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Office of Communications v IC [2009] EWCA Civ 90 (‘Ofcom’). In Ofcom, the Court of Appeal considered the question of how the public interest test under regulation 12(5)(b) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (‘EIR’) applied where a number of different exceptions were engaged in respect of particular requested information. It held that, rather than conducting discrete public interest balancing exercises under each individual exception, the public authority could effectively bundle all the public interest considerations relevant to the applicable exceptions into a single compendious public interest balancing exercise. The Commissioner has now been granted permission to appeal the judgment to the newly constituted Supreme Court. 11KBW’s Ahlaq Choudury is acting on behalf of the Commissioner.

‘Meta-requests’ and Late Exemptions – High Court Judgment

Posted on | by Anya Proops KC

In Home Office & Ministry of Justice v IC (EA/2008/062), the Information Tribunal held that the Home Office had erred in refusing to disclose information which revealed how internally it had dealt with some 48 FOIA requests which had previously been made by a particular media organisation. In particular, it held that the Home Office had not been entitled to treat that information as exempt under section 36 FOIA (prejudice to public affairs). The High Court has now upheld the Tribunal’s decision on appeal by the Home Office – see Home Office & Ministry of Justice v IC [2009] EWHC 1611 (Admin). Notably, the High Court declined to decide the question of how the Tribunal should respond to a public authority which sought to invoke exemptions for the first time before the Tribunal. The Home Office had sought to argue, contrary to existing Tribunal orthodoxy (see particularly Department for Business and Regulatory Reform v IC & Friends of the Earth (EA/2007/0072)), that the Tribunal had no discretion to refuse late reliance on exemptions and that a public authority was, in effect, automatically entitled to invoke new exemptions at any stage in the process. The Commissioner invited the Court to approve the orthodox position. Keith J held that he ought not to decide this particular issue given that it had effectively become academic on the facts of the appeal. 

Blogger’s Identity Not Private Information

Posted on | by Anya Proops KC

Yesterday, the High Court handed down an important judgment on the application of the law of privacy to anonymous bloggers. The case involved a detective constable, Mr Horton, whose anonymous blog, ‘Night Jack’, gave a behind-the-scenes insight into modern policing. The prize-winning blog attracted a huge following. When a journalist at the time discovered Mr Horton’s identity by carrying out his own detective work, Mr Horton sought and was granted an injunction restraining the Times from revealing his identity. However, that injunction was lifted in a judgment handed down on 16 June 2009 by Eady J: The Author of a Blog v Times Newspapers Ltd [2009] EWHC 1358 (QB).

 

The central issue in the case was whether the developing law of privacy entitled Mr Horton to retain anonymity in respect of the blog. Eady J held that the injunction should be lifted because Mr Horton had failed to demonstrate that there was a legally enforceable right to maintain anonymity in respect of his identity. In reaching this conclusion, Eady J applied a two stage test: first, he considered whether Mr Horton had established that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of his blogging activities; second, he considered whether, if there was a reasonable expectation of privacy, that expectation was nonetheless overridden by the public interest in disclosure.  Eady J found that Mr Horton lost on the first limb of the test because the essentially public nature of his blogging activity meant that, judged objectively, Mr Horton could not reasonably expect that his identity would be treated as private information. Having decided the case against Mr Horton on this basis, Eady J nonetheless went on to consider the public interest arguments. With respect to those arguments, he held that there was in any event an overwhelming public interest in disclosure of the information. This was the case particularly given the public interest in revealing that the person making critical and politically controversial comments about the force through the blog was himself a particular serving police officer. In reaching these conclusions, Eady J rejected arguments to the effect that the injunction should be maintained given the risk that disclosure of his identity would increase the risk that Mr Horton would face disciplinary action.