Care Quality Commission

The complainant has requested inspectors’ handwritten notes used to compile an inspection report on Orchard Lodge care home.  The Care Quality Commission (CQC) withheld this information under sections 30(2) (investigations and proceedings), 31(1)(g) (law enforcement), 40(2) (third person personal data), 41(1) (information provided in confidence) and 44(1)(a) (prohibitions on disclosure) of the FOIA.  During the Commissioner’s investigation, CQC released some of the information, after redacting personal data under section 40(2) from part of it. The Commissioner’s decision is as follows: CQC is correct to withhold a small amount of information from both Inspector 1’s notes and the feedback summary note under section 40(2) of the FOIA. CQC is correct to apply section 41(1) of the FOIA to the information it has withheld from Inspector 1’s notes and to Inspector 2’s notes in their entirety. CQC breached section 10(1) as it did not comply with section 1(1)(b) within 20 working days with respect to information it released on 4 January 2018 (the feedback summary note) and 2 May 2018 (information contained in Inspector 1’s notes). The Commissioner does not require CQC to take any steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.