Department for Education

The complainant has requested information relating to a meeting that took place on 12 February 2014 between Councillor Sir Albert Bore and the then Secretary of State Michael Gove to discuss the ‘Trojan Horse’ letter. The Department for Education (DfE) refused to disclose the requested information citing sections 36(2)(b), 36(2)(c) and 41 of the FOIA. During the Commissioner’s investigation two documents were disclosed to the complainant in response to a very similar request he made to Birmingham City Council (BCC). The third document is the notes taken by the DfE of the meeting, which the DfE maintains is still exempt from disclosure. The Commissioner has considered these notes and with the exception of the small amount of information quoted in the Confidential Annex she has decided that the DfE is entitled to rely on section 36(2)(b) of the FOIA and that the public interest rests in maintaining this exemption. For the small amount of information contained in the Confidential Annex, the Commissioner requires the DfE to disclose this to the complainant.