Royal Holloway University of London

The complainant has requested information relating to the number of applicants, for a specific course intake, who have disabilities. Royal Holloway University of London (‘the University’) refused to provide the requested information, citing section 43(2) (commercial interests) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that: the University isn’t entitled to withhold any information under section 43(2) (commercial interests), the University is entitled to withhold the information it has under section 40(2) (personal information) except that requested at part 2, and in failing to confirm or deny that it held information relevant to the request, and disclose any non-exempt information, within the statutory timeframe, the University breached section 1 (general right of access to information) and section 10 (timescale for compliance) of FOIA. The Commissioner requires University to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: disclose the information requested at parts 1, 2 and 10 of the request.