Public Health England

The complainant requested information about previous pandemic preparedness exercises. Public Health England initially refused to provide any information and relied on section 24 of the FOIA (national security) in order to do so. By the point of this notice, PHE had disclosed the majority of the requested information but still wished to rely on section 24 to withhold the remainder. The Commissioner’s decision is that PHE has failed to demonstrate that section 24 is engaged and is thus not entitled to rely on that exemption. The Commissioner requires PHE to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: disclose, to the complainant, a copy of the withheld information. PHE may only continue to withhold that which it has identified to the Commissioner as comprising personal data.