Info Commissioner Elizabeth Denham tells @CommonsPACAC there is a "need for urgent reform in legislation as well as more powers and resources for our office"
@CommonsPACAC Denham, in her oral evidence to @CommonsPACAC: FOI working well at local level, but for more politically complex/sensitive requests timeliness and openness have deteriorated; and oversight of FOI act is not fit for purpose
@CommonsPACAC Denham: We don't have evidence on whether clearing house causes delays and discrimination against journalists; we wanted to do audit but cabinet office declined. This has increased suspicion.
Important Upper Tribunal decision relating to common practice of public authorities to withhold exact numbers where they are under 5 - Tribunal rules that NHSBSA was *wrong* to do this & shld release exact figs (via @11kbw): assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6135fb74…
Public bodies replying to FOI requests say they do this to protect personal data. The Tribunal rules the legal issue is a binary test of whether an individual is identifiable from the info, and not to do with "identification risk". In this case NHSBSA wrongly withheld exact figs.
The issue cannot be decided "by reference to a numerical number relating to incidents in the data." ... "The legislation provides that actual identification is necessary in order for data to be personal data."