Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

Summary wording for website: The complainant submitted a request to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) seeking information about a decision, previously communicated to him, that the department did not have a role to play in upholding the Cabinet Office Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies with regards members of the Channel 4 board. DCMS provided some information falling within the scope of the request with redactions on the basis of section 40 (personal data) of FOIA. It also withheld further information on the basis of section 36(2)(b)(i) (effective conduct of public affairs) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the withheld information is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 36(2)(b)(i) but that the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption. The Commissioner has also concluded that DCMS breached sections 17(3) and 17(5) of FOIA as a result of its delayed responses to the request.