Wellspring Academy Trust

The complainant has requested from Wellspring Academy Trust (‘the Trust’) the salaries, and details of expenses claimed, of the Vice-Principles and Principles within the Trust. The Trust refused to provide the requested information, citing section 40 (personal information) of the FOIA as its basis for doing so. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Trust is entitled to rely on section 40 as its basis for refusing to disclose individual salary information. However, the Commissioner notes that not all of the information contained within the mileage and expenses forms in question constitutes personal information. Therefore the Commissioner has found the Trust in breach of section 1(1)(b) (general right of access to information held by public bodies) and section 10 (time for compliance with the request) of the FOIA. The Commissioner requires the Trust to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: Disclose a redacted copy of the mileage and expenses forms.