Office of Qualifications and Examination Regulation

The complainant has requested from Ofqual emails sent between an individual at the Department for Education and eight individuals at Ofqual between a certain timeframe. Ofqual provided some information in its response and further information at a later date but continued to withhold part of the information, citing section 36 (prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs) and section 40(2)(personal information) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that Ofqual correctly cited section 36 regarding the information it withheld. However, Ofqual breached sections 1(1)(b), 10(1), and 17(1) of FOIA by failing to respond within the legislative timeframe and providing information late to which the complainant was entitled. The Commissioner does not require further steps. Information Tribunal EA/2023/0471 under appeal.