Department for Education

In a five part request, the complainant has requested information about the appointment of Rachel Houchen to the Board of the Office for Students. The Department for Education (DfE) addressed three parts of the request. It has withheld information within scope of parts a) and b) of the request under sections 36(2) and 40(2) of FOIA. These exemptions concern prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs and personal data respectively. The Commissioner’s decision is as follows: DfE has correctly applied sections 36(2)(b)(i) and 36(2)(b)(ii) of FOIA to parts a) and b) of the request and, in the case of part a), correctly applied section 36(2)(c). In each case the public interest favours maintaining the exemption in respect of part b) but not in respect of part a).DfE can also rely on section 40(2) of FOIA to withhold the information requested in part b) of the request but not part a). The Commissioner requires DfE to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: Disclose the information requested in part a) of the request.