Department for Business Innovation and Skills
- Date 22 October 2013
- Sector Central government
- Decision(s) EIR 12.5.e: Partly upheld
The complainant has requested a copy of the documents submitted by Waterford Wedgwood Royal Doulton (WWRD) to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) applying for a grant from the Regional Growth Fund to redevelop its site in Stoke. BIS originally applied section 43 of FOIA to some of the information. However having accepted the information was environmental information, it later relied on regulation 12(5)(e) – confidentiality of commercial information, to withhold the information. The Commissioner’s decision is that in respect of the majority of the information regulation 12(5)(e) is engaged and that the public interest favoured maintaining the exception. However the information withheld from a table of ‘Detailed Timings Plans’ was not exempt. The Commissioner requires the public authority to disclose the information withheld from the Detailed Timings Plans.