General Chiropractic Council

The complainant has requested information relating to the level of fees the General Chiropractic Council (GCC) has paid to an expert. The GCC withheld the information, citing the exemption under sections 31(1), 36, 40 and 43(2) of the FOIA as its basis for doing so. The Commissioner’s decision is that the GCC has correctly engaged the section 43(2) exemption and the balance of the public interest favours maintaining the exemption. However, the Commissioner has recorded a procedural breach of section 10 of the FOIA, as the GCC failed to respond to the complainant’s request within the statutory time limits. The Commissioner does not require any further steps to be taken as a result of this decision notice.