London Borough of Camden

The complainant has requested information regarding LGBTQ+ equality and London Borough of Camden (“the Council’s”) procurement process. The Council refused the request, citing sections 36(2)(b)(ii) and 36(2)(c) (Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) of FOIA. The complainant in their submission to the Commissioner only focused on one part of the requested information, i.e. a copy of the Council’s most recent submission to Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index.
2. The Commissioner’s decision is that:-
• The Council correctly applied section 36(2)(b)(ii) to the information which is the subject of this notice, but the public interest favours disclosure.
• The information within the scope of this notice to which the Council applied section 36(2)(c) does not engage this exemption because the envisaged prejudice falls under that covered by section 36(2)(b)(ii).
3. The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation:
• Disclose the information within scope of this notice that engages section 36(2)(b)(ii) but in respect of which the public interest favours disclosure, i.e. the Council’s most recent submission to Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index.
4. The Council must take these steps within 30 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.