NHS Business Services Authority

The complainant has requested copies of complaints made to the Pension Regulator and any responses received. NHS Business Services Authority provided some redacted information, but withheld the remainder. It relied on section 43(2) of the FOIA (commercial interests) and section 44(1) of the FOIA (statutory prohibition on disclosure) in order to do so. The Commissioner’s decision is that NHSBSA has correctly relied upon section 44 of the FOIA to withhold information. However, it has not demonstrated that section 43(2) of the FOIA is engaged and is thus not entitled to rely on that exemption. NHSBSA also breached sections 10 and 17 of the FOIA respectively in responding to the request. The Commissioner requires NHSBSA to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: disclose, to the complainant, copies of the two BoL reports it has shown to the Commissioner. NHSBSA may only redact the PSR numbers and the personal data that it has already highlighted.