Aneurin Bevan University Health Board

The complainant has requested a report into access to GP services and associated information. Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (‘the Board’) disclosed the report having redacted practice names under section 43(2) of FOIA, which concern commercial interests. The Board indicated it does not hold the remaining information. The Board subsequently confirmed it was also relying on section 41(1) which concerns information provided in confidence. The Commissioner’s decision is that the names of specific GP practices were provided in confidence and are also commercially sensitive . The Board is therefore entitled to withhold this information under section 41(1) and section 43(2) of FOIA. The Commissioner finds that the Board does not hold the GP “action plan” the complainant requested but that it breached section 10(1) of FOIA as it did not communicate non-exempt information to the complainant within 20 working days. Finally, the Board’s refusal notice was inadequate and did not comply with the requirements of section 17(1) of FOIA. The Commissioner requires the Board to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: If it has not already done so, disclose the county borough level information which it has indicated to the Commissioner it is prepared to disclose.