Liverpool Womens NHS Foundation Trust

The complainant has requested any legal advice received by the Trust from Timothy Pitt-Payne QC on the issue of ‘gagging orders’. The Trust identified information within the scope of the request but withheld this on the basis that information was legally professionally privileged and therefore exempt under section 42 of the FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision, after considering the public interest test, is that the Trust has correctly applied this exemption and the public interest favours withholding the requested information. Information Tribunal appeal number EA/2012/0074 dismissed.