Freedom of Information request (FOI 22/974)
Published 17 January 2024
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22nd November 2022
FOI 22/974
Dear
Thank you for your request (22/974) submitted under FOIA.
The requested documentation has been redacted under Section 40 (personal information), Section 41 (information given in confidence) and Section 43 (commercial interests) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.
Disclosure of information subject to Section 40 (personal information) would be an infringement of personal data. Section 40 (personal information) is an absolute exemption and no consideration of the public interest is required.
Section 41 (information given in confidence) is an absolute exemption, and directly within FOI legislation no consideration of the public interest is necessary, except to state that the release of this information withheld under this section of the FOI Act would be considered an actionable breach by the MHRA. In terms of the public interest outside of FOI related an actionable breach we consider the arguments listed below under Section 43 to also apply here.
We have redacted some parts of the attached documentation under Section 43 (2) (commercial Interests) of the FOI Act because the release of all, or part of, the information would, or would be likely to, cause harm to the third party’s commercial interests. The exemption is to safeguard the commercially sensitive information/commercial enterprise This exemption is conditional on the public interest in releasing it not outweighing the company’s/commercial enterprise’s right to confidentiality and the probable damage that the company/commercial enterprise could suffer as a result of the information being released. We have considered the balance of the public interest when applying this exemption. In this case, we have not identified any issues which would benefit the public, as a whole, by being brought to their attention.
If you have a query about the information provided, please reply to this email.
If you disagree with how we have interpreted the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in answering your request, you can ask for an internal review. Please reply to this email, within two months of this reply, specifying that you would like an Internal Review to be carried out.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
If you were to remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you would have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Please bear in mind that the Information Commissioner will not normally review our handling of your request unless you have first contacted us to conduct an internal review. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF
Yours sincerely
MHRA Customer Experience Centre