‘The Information Commissioner has called for the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) to be updated to include organisations providing a public function.’
Local Government Lawyer, 28th January 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A couple of recent Upper Tribunal cases have been handed down on the section 35(1) FOIA exemption for the formulation or development of government policy and for Ministerial communications. Both concern documents produced at the highest levels of Government. Both nudge the jurisprudence on a little bit, and both are worth being aware of for those concerned.’
Panoptiocn, 14th January 2018
Source: panopticonblog.com
‘Simon Goodley explains how the Guardian uncovered the secret world of convicted landlords who continue to operate – and exploit – with impunity.’
The Guardian, 8th December 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The refusal rate for people applying to stay in the UK after suffering domestic violence more than doubled between 2012 and 2016 after the government pledged to make the UK a “hostile environment for illegal immigrants”.’
The Guardian, 16th August 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A prisoner was reimbursed 57 pence as compensation after a magazine they owned was lost or damaged by prison staff, as new figures reveal that over £1 million has been given out to convicts for lost property over the past five years.’
Daily Telegraph, 13th August 2018
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘It is not uncommon for public authorities who hold statistical data to decline to disclose specific figures in categories for which the number is fewer than five, on the basis of a fear that the number of affected people is sufficiently small that they are reasonably identifiable. In other words, they rely on section 40(2) FOIA to withhold the number.That approach has now been considered by the Upper Tribunal in Information Commissioner v Miller [2018] UKUT 229 (AAC). That case concerned a request to (what is now) MHCLG for their information supplied by local authorities on a range of homelessness statistics. In relation to parts of the dataset which related to five or fewer individuals, section 40(2) was relied on. The FTT disagreed in a decision on the papers and the ICO appealed.’
Panopticon, 3rd August 2018
Source: panopticonblog.com
‘The procedural exemptions in sections 12 and 14 of FOIA are some of the most commonly used, and most commonly litigated, provisions of the legislation. Unsurprisingly, they have led to a disproportionate degree of appellate involvement. More surprisingly, they continue to do so. Three recent Upper Tribunal decisions add to that body of jurisprudence which ought to be considered by authorities faced with burdensome requests. This post is, as a result, quite burdensome itself.’
Panopticon, 3rd August 2018
Source: panopticonblog.com
‘Stratford-on-Avon District Council need not disclose advice given by an independent person in a case over a councillor’s conduct, the First-Tier Tribunal (FTT) has said.’
Local Government Lawyer, 10th July 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Emma-Louise Fenelon discusses the challenges around secrecy, anonymity and public information in major inquests and inquiries in a talk recorded at One Crown Office Row’s 2018 seminar.’
Law Pod UK, 14th June 2018
Source: audioboom.com
‘As is so often the way in information rights, the Upper Tribunal reaches a perfectly sensible decision and gives practical guidance which others can actually apply, only for the Court of Appeal to insist on saying mostly the same thing but less clearly and less helpfully. As a result, the Upper Tribunal then has to reconsider the area and steer the law back to a productive course. So it was in Department for Transport & Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency & Porsche Cars GB Ltd v Information Commissioner & Cieslik [2018] UKUT 127 (AAC) (Cieslik), on the – to put it politely – potential interpretative difficulties on the issue of the meaning of “environmental information” under the EIR following the ‘guidance’ of the Court of Appeal in Department for Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy v Information Commissioner & Henney [2017] EWCA Civ 844 (see here). And the judgment of Judge Markus QC in Cieslik is a genuinely important and valuable exercise in course correction.’
Panopticon, 27th April 2018
Source: panopticonblog.com
‘A councillor is facing trial for destroying records about a system to catch fouling dog owners in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.’
Daily Telegraph, 25th April 2018
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘General Data Protection Regulation holds that anyone in Europe can ask any company for the data it has on them.’
The Guardian, 24th April 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘In Case No. EA/2017/0057, Hartlepool Borough Council v The Information Commissioner, the FTT was concerned with whether under FoIA Section 43(2) disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of any party and if so whether the public interest in maintaining that exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure. The FTT upheld the Commissioner’s Decision that the disputed information must be disclosed. The Borough Council’s Appeal was dismissed.’
Local Government Law, 18th April 2018
Source: local-government-law.11kbw.com
‘The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has been hit with a £120,000 monetary penalty by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after the council unlawfully identified 943 people who owned vacant properties in the borough.’
Local Government Lawyer, 16th April 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The First-tier Tribunal has upheld a council’s refusal to hand over information on its handling of a review into its dealings with a law firm that caused an uproar by sending out a series of tweets appearing to gloat over defeating cases brought by parents of children with special educational needs.’
Legal Futures, 13th March 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Kensington and Chelsea council has been condemned by the information commissioner for failing to disclose information relating to the Grenfell Tower fire. Elizabeth Denham has made seven rulings against the council for failing to respond to freedom of information requests about fire safety, cladding and risk assessments at the high-rise block.’
The Guardian, 13th March 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Upper Tribunal’s most recent judgment – IC v Malnick and ACOBA (GIA/447/2017) – is a rare thing these days: a binding decision that makes a meaningful and general (rather than fact-specific) contribution to FOIA jurisprudence. In particular, it tells us (1) how to assess the reasonableness of a qualified person’s opinion for section 36 FOIA purposes, and (2) whether the FTT can remit a case to the ICO for a fresh decision if it allows an appeal.’
Panopticon, 5th March 2018
Source: panopticonblog.com
‘An award-winning standup comedian is being sued by her estranged husband for allegedly defaming him in her show.’
The Guardian, 19th February 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Care home managers reported almost 13,000 concerns that vulnerable residents were experiencing financial abuse in the past four years, new figures show.’
Daily Telegraph, 17th February 2018
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
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