Department of Education Northern Ireland

The complainant has requested information relating to the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA). The Department of Education for Northern Ireland (‘the public authority’) disclosed information with redactions under section 35(1)(a) (formulation or development of government policy) and section 43(2) (commercial interests) of FOIA. Some information it withheld in full under section 21 (information available to applicant via other means) and some it claimed it didn’t hold. During this investigation, the public authority identified further information that could be disclosed due to the passage of time. The Commissioner’s decision is that the public authority has correctly withheld information under section 35(1)(a), section 43(2) and section 21 and has correctly identified all information within scope of the request. However, the Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: disclose to the complainant the information referred to within paragraph 2 if it hasn’t done so already.