Department for Education

The complainant has requested all copies of draft responses to the Office for Students (OfS) ‘Consultation on Data Futures and data Collection’. The Department for Education (the DfE) initially refused the request under section 35(1)(a) of FOIA but later withdrew it and cited section 36(2)(c) – prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs. The Commissioner’s decision is that the DfE cited section 36 appropriately and that the public interest favours non-disclosure. The Commissioner does not require further steps.