Cheshire and Greater Manchester Probation CRC

The complainant requested a copy of the manual for an area specific Sex Offender Programme from the Cheshire and Greater Manchester Community Rehabilitation Centre (the ‘CRC’). The request was refused, initially on the grounds that it was commercially sensitive (section 43(2) of FOIA), and following an internal review, additionally on the grounds of health and safety (section 38 of FOIA). During the investigation, the CRC agreed with the Commissioner that some of the introductory parts of the manual were not covered by either exemption and disclosed this information to the complainant. With the exception of the information disclosed during the investigation, the Commissioner has found that section 38(1) is engaged and that in all the circumstances the public interest in disclosure is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the exemption. He has therefore not considered whether section 43(2) was properly applied to the request. However, the CRC breached section 10(1) of FOIA by responding to the request outside the 20 working days’ statutory limit. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any remedial steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.