Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

The complainant requested information relating to assaults at HMP Belmarsh and HMP Frankland. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) confirmed that it holds all the requested information. However, it considered that some of the information was publicly available and therefore exempt from disclosure by virtue of section 21 (information accessible to applicant by other means) of FOIA. The MoJ relied on section 40(2) (personal information) of FOIA to withhold the remaining information in scope of the request. The Commissioner has considered the MoJ’s application of section 40(2) to the withheld information relating to the logs of assaults. The Commissioner’s decision is that the MoJ has correctly relied on section 40(2) of FOIA to withhold that information. The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken as a result of this decision.