London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

The complainant has requested copies of an application for grant funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and associated correspondence. The above public authority disclosed some information, but its final position was to rely on section 22A of FOIA (research) to withhold the remainder. The Commissioner’s decision is that the public authority has not demonstrated that the exemption applies. The public authority breached section 10 of FOIA as it failed to disclose non-exempt information within 20 working days. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: disclose the information it has relied on section 22A of FOIA to withhold. The public authority may make appropriate redactions to comply with its data protection obligations.