NHS England

The complainant has requested, from NHS England, a copy of a report on the findings of an investigation relating to the governance and leadership of an NHS Trust, and compliance with its licence. NHS England disclosed a redacted copy, citing four exemptions to withhold parts of the report. The complainant has challenged the application of sections 31 (law enforcement), 36 (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) and 41 (information provided in confidence) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that section 31 is engaged and that the balance of the public interest favours maintaining the exemption. He also finds that NHS England breached section 17(1) of FOIA because it failed to issue its refusal notice within 20 working days. The Commissioner does not require any further steps as a result of this decision notice. First-tier tribunal (General Regulatory chamber) information rights appeal EA/2023/0417 under appeal.