House of Lords Appointments Commission

The complainant submitted a request to the House of Lords Appointments Committee (HOLAC) seeking information about its guidelines and standard operating procedures for vetting and assessing nominees for life peerages. HOLAC confirmed that it held information falling within the scope of the request but considered this to be exempt from disclosure on the basis of sections 37(1)(b) (conferral of honours or dignities), 21(1) (information reasonable accessible to the applicant) and 40(2) (personal data). The complainant disputed the application of section 37(1)(b). The Commissioner’s decision is that the information falling within the scope of the request is exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 37(1)(b). However, for the majority of this information the public interest favours its disclosure. For a small minority of the withheld information the Commissioner has concluded that the public interest favours maintaining section 37(1)(b) and such information can be withheld by HOLAC.