Information Commissioner’s Office approves NHS Trust’s wide application of duty of confidentiality exemption to freedom of information laws

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, people anywhere in the world have the right to see information held by more than 100,000 UK public bodies about the way in which decisions are made and public money spent, even if it relates to their competitors. There are a series of exemptions from disclosing information. Amongst those exemptions is the right to refuse to disclose confidential information. The Information Commissioner’s Office has approved the way Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust dealt with the issue recently. Someone had asked for information regarding a private finance initiative agreement and financial model. The applicant would have settled for just receiving the cashflows.

The ICO said that when the Trust refused to disclose the information, it had given appropriate consideration to the following:

• The sensitive nature of the information.
• The confidentiality clause in the agreement.
• How useful the information would be to competitors.
• The fact that the information was still current.
• The information would not help the public to assess value-for-money.