Robert Moss v The Information Commissioner
[2023] UKFTT 609 (GRC)
Valerie Mingle v The Information Commissioner
22 February 2023
[2023] UKFTT 209 (GRC)
First-tier Tribunal
Someone appealed a decision about whether a local authority had to give them information about their late mother's care. The judge said the appeal was hopeless because it didn't challenge the official decision properly, only the local authority's behaviour. The law lets authorities refuse to say whether they have information if giving it would break data protection rules, and the appeal didn't deal with that.
Key Facts
- •Appeal against the Information Commissioner's Decision Notice regarding a Freedom of Information request.
- •Appellant sought information about her late mother's care from a local authority.
- •Information Commissioner's Decision Notice upheld the local authority's reliance on s. 41(2) FOIA, neither confirming nor denying the existence of information.
- •Appellant's grounds of appeal alleged a cover-up and focused on the local authority's actions, not the Decision Notice itself.
- •The Information Commissioner applied for a strike-out under rule 8(3)(c) of the Tribunal's rules.
Legal Principles
An application to strike out under rule 8(3)(c) should be considered similarly to an application under CPR 3.4 in civil proceedings.
HMRC v Fairford Group [2014] UKUT 0329 (TCC)
The Tribunal's role under s. 57 and s. 58 FOIA is to decide whether there is an error of law or inappropriate exercise of discretion in the Information Commissioner's Decision Notice.
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Section 41(2) FOIA allows a public authority to neither confirm nor deny the existence of information if disclosure would involve the disclosure of personal data.
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Outcomes
Appeal struck out.
The appeal had no reasonable prospect of success as it challenged the local authority's actions rather than the legality of the Decision Notice. The appellant failed to address the application of s.41(2) FOIA and the potential disclosure of personal data.