This was mentioned on another
thread. I was going to comment on it but decided instead of being off thread I would start my own.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gayle
Yes, the Freedom of Information Act ensures that all documents are available to the public.
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Not quite all documents, this is from the HBC website
Quote:
Exempt information
Some information held by the Council is exempt from publication, either under the Freedom of Information Act or other legal provisions. The Council does not intend to make public under the Publication Scheme information which: · if disclosed would breach any of the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998
· has been given to the Council with an expectation of confidentiality
· if disclosed would prejudice civil or criminal law enforcement by the Council
· if disclosed would prejudice the collection of Council Tax
· if disclosed would endanger any individual's health or safety
· if disclosed would prejudice the Council's, or someone else's commercial interests
· is contained in documents filed with a court for the purposes of proceedings
· is contained in documents created for the purposes of an enquiry or arbitration
· is subject to legal professional privilege
· the Council is required not to publish under any other legal provision
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I would recommend anyone who emails or writes to the Council to put a line at the beginning stating something like "This correspondence is strictly confidential and I expect it to be excluded from any Freedom of Information requests as stated in your Publication Scheme".
It would also appear that if you attend a public meeting and sign the attendees list so minutes etc can be sent to you, that your personal information can be requested under Freedom Of Information. Personally I think that is a breech of the Data Protection Act but HBC don't think so.
What do you think?
Do you want any Tom, Dick or Harry knowing which meetings you did or did not attend?