Key Facts
- •Appeal against the Information Commissioner's decision notice (DN) refusing disclosure of Salman Abedi's driving licence application.
- •Appellant: Faisal A Qureshi (litigant in person), a researcher and journalist.
- •Respondents: The Information Commissioner and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
- •Request for information was made on 26 February 2020.
- •DVLA refused the request citing sections 41(1) and 31(1)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
- •The Information Commissioner upheld the DVLA's refusal, relying on section 41(1) FOIA.
- •The appeal was heard on the papers and consolidated with a similar appeal (EA/2022/0403).
Legal Principles
Section 41(1) FOIA exemption for information provided in confidence by a third party.
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Elements of an actionable breach of confidence (Coco v A N Clark): necessary quality of confidence, imparted in circumstances importing an obligation of confidence, unauthorised use to the detriment of the confider.
Coco v A N Clark (Engineers) Limited [1968] FSR 415
Duty of confidence can survive the death of the confider; no need to establish existence of a personal representative.
Bluck v IC and Epsom and St Helier University NHS Trust (EA/2006/0090)
Public interest balancing exercise under section 41(1) FOIA: starting point is maintaining confidentiality; private interests can weigh against disclosure.
Section 41(1) FOIA and case law interpretation
Information generated by a public authority referring to confidential third-party information is covered by section 41(1) FOIA.
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform v IC and Friends of the Earth (EA/2007/0072); JW v Information Commissioner and Nottinghamshire Health Care NHS Trust [2013] UKUT 648
Outcomes
Appeal dismissed.
The Tribunal accepted the Information Commissioner's reasoning and found no error of law. The DVLA was entitled to rely on section 41(1) FOIA, and the public interest favoured withholding the information.